No. 2 UND mounts three-goal rally to stun No. 3 Denver, 7-5

KVRR Staff,

DENVER (UND ATHLETICS)– Trailing by three just 13 minutes into the game, No. 2 North Dakota mounted a rally behind four goals in the third period to defeat No. 3 Denver, 7-5, on Friday night from a raucous Magness Arena in Denver.  

 

UND (12-2-1, 5-0-0 NCHC) stuck for a tetrad of goals over the final 14 minutes of the contest to turn a 5-3 deficit heading into the third into a 7-5 victory to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to eight and remain unbeaten in league play.  

 

Jackson Blake struck at the 6:00 mark of the stanza to pull the Fighting Hawks within one, as the sophomore forward danced around his defender and sniped a shot over the shoulder of the DU (10-4-1, 3-2-0 NCHC) goaltender to turn the momentum towards the visiting side.  

 

Still down by a goal with under seven minutes to play despite constant pressure, NoDak finally brought the game level at 5-5when Louis Jamernik V made a great move on a partial breakaway following a slick feed from Dylan James to complete the rally.  

 

UND took the lead for the first time since the opening 105 seconds of the contest, as Riese Gaber wired home his eighth goal of the season from his favorite spot on the power play before Cameron Berg extended the advantage to 7-5 just 27 seconds later with his second tally of the night to cap the largest comeback win for the program since Nov. 17, 2017 against these same Pioneers.  

 

All nine of North Dakota’s top forwards recorded at least one point, with Owen McLaughlin and Blake each leading the way with a trio of points on a goal and two helpers apiece. Berg notched his second straight two-goal game on a Friday while Jake Schmaltz returned from injury with a pair of helpers and James also added a goal and an assist for a multi-point outing.  

 

Reigning NCHC Rookie of the Week Jake Livanavage notched multiple points for the first time in his career with two helpers and Garrett Pyke recorded the primary assist on Gaber’s game-winning goal to give the Alaska transfer points in three of his last four games.  

 

UND jumped out to the start it wanted, with James striking on a deflection off a Schmaltz shot just 1:45 into the game, but DU exploded with four goals in the final 18 minutes of the first period to grab a commanding 4-1 lead at the end of the first.  

 

NoDak started to chip away at the deficit in the middle stanza, with McLaughlin and Berg each scoring on slick feeds from Blake and Jayden Perron, respectively, but DU struck right after a power play expired to take a 5-3 advantage into the third period.  

 

The final 20 minutes completely belonged to the visitors, striking four times, including a trio of goals in a 3:31 span in the closing six minutes to rally back for the 7-5 win.  

 

North Dakota and Denver close out the weekend series on Saturday night at 7:07 p.m. (CT) from Magness Arena. Fans can catch all the action on NCHC.tv and the Home of Economy Radio Network.  

 

Postgame Notes  

  1. UND recorded its first three-goal comeback victory since Nov. 17, 2017 at Denver  
  2. All nine of NoDak’s top forwards recorded at least a point  
  3. Ludvig Persson finished with 27 saves on 32 shots against  
  4. The win snapped an 11-game losing streak for Persson against DU  
  5. UND extends its winning streak to a nation-long eight  
  6. Jackson Blake notched his fifth game this season with at least three points  
  7. Blake has also scored in a career-long five straight games  
  8. Owen McLaughlin also recorded three points for the third time this year  
  9. Jake Schmaltz returned from a four-game hiatus to notch a pair of assists  
  10. Cameron Berg now has four multi-point contests in his last seven games  
  11. Jake Livanavage tallied two assists for his first-career multi-point game  
  12. DU held a 32-27 shot advantage  
  13. UND is 2-1-1 this season when trailing entering the third  
  14. NoDak improves to 11-1-1 when scoring first this season and 8-0-1 when scoring on the power play 
  15. The Hawks are 5-2-0 this season against ranked opponents and 4-1-0 in games decided by one goal 
  16. UND finished with 13 blocked shots, with Bennett Zmolek leading with four  
  17. The seven goals are the most scored by UND at Magness Arena since Nov. 21, 2003 in an 8-2 win 
  18. North Dakota finished with a 33-25 faceoff advantage, with Cameron Berg going 13-6  

  
How It Happened 

First Period                                                     
01: 45 | UND – Dylan James deflects home a shot from Jake Schmaltz to give UND an early lead
02:40 | DU – Shai Buium wrists a shot home from the point to tie the game at 1-1
04:30 | DU – Carter King finds a loose puck in the crease to make it 2-1 DU
05:16 | DU – Tristan Broz extends the lead to 3-1 with a tip from in front of the net
13:11 | DU – Jack Devine caps off a four-goal first for DU on a pretty passing play 

Second Period 
10:20 | UND – Owen McLaughlin wires home a great pass from Jackson Blake to cut the deficit to 4-2
13:05 | UND – Cameron Berg connects on a one-time pass from Jayden Perron to make it a one-goal game
15:57 | DU – Broz notches his second of the game on a scramble in front to restore a 5-3 lead

Third Period 
06:00 | UND – Jackson Blake dances around his defender and snipes it home to make it 5-4
13:21 | UND – Louis Jamernik V tucks it home on a partial breakaway to tie the game at 5-5
16:25 | UND – Riese Gaber snipes one from his office on the power play to give UND a 6-5 lead
16:52 | UND – Berg snaps home his second of the night off a rush to add some insurance

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