No. 6-ranked Minnesota Duluth edged No. 7 UMass Lowell on Friday 2-1 at Amsoil Arena in Duluth. The top-10 nonconference series wraps up at 7:07 p.m. Saturday at Amsoil Arena.
Here are my thumbs up and thumbs down from Friday’s game, plus my three stars of the game.
Thumbs up to UMD grinding out the win in the third period
The Bulldogs got out-shot in the final 20 minutes 11-9, they had to kill a River Hawks power play midway through the period, and finally had to withstand a late 6-on-5 onslaught with UML goalie Kevin Boyle on the bench.
The No. 7-ranked team in the country, a possible contender for the Hockey East title and a team UMD could very well meet again in the NCAA tournament threw everything it had at the Bulldogs in the third period, and couldn’t get a goal.
Sophomore goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo was one reason UML couldn’t score, but the Bulldogs also played a great game defensively, giving the River Hawks very few clean rushes into the UMD zone, especially in the third period.
UMD coach Scott Sandelin said after the win he was proud of his team for preserving the win in the third period Saturday, and rightfully so, because it was a tight, tight battle.
Thumbs down to turnovers on the power play
I wanted to give the UMD power play some love tonight (like a thumbs up) for getting off the schneid and not only converting, but for tallying the game-winning goal.
But …
Prior to the chance that saw junior center Dominic Toninato finishing off the rebound produced by junior wing Alex Iafallo, UMD gave up two shorthanded breakaways during an advantage early in the second period. Both were the result of turnovers at the blue line. Both times the power play was bailed out by Kaskisuo.
Maybe those turnovers were the reason Sandelin didn’t seem eager to talk about the power play tonight, wanting to take a wait-and-see approach before giving it kudos.
Or maybe he’s just sick of this reporter asking about the power play. Truthfully, I’m sick of asking and writing about it, but it’s too important to ignore and the turnovers are what concern me the most.
Matt’s Three Stars
3. UMD senior defenseman Andy Welinski: If not for Kaskisuo’s saves on the shorthanded breakaways, he’d have the play of the night. His shot from above the right face off circle that wound up in the top, left corner of the net was wicked. Check out the shot here, courtesy of @UMDHockeygifs on Twitter. Welinski also assisted on Toninato’s game-winner.
2. UMD junior center Dominic Toninato: Third goal of the season for the junior and this one was the game-winner on Friday. If this is the goal (again, courtesy of @UMDHockeygifs) that leads to a sweep and proves to be the spark the power play needs, we’ll be talking about it for awhile.
1. UMD sophomore goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo: He made the two biggest plays of the game to keep the game tied, stopping a pair of Lowell shorthanded breakaways early in the second. What Kaskisuo does may seem routine to those of in Duluth already, but that doesn’t mean we can’t stop to appreciate what he does to keep UMD in games, all while frustrating the heck out of the opposition.