Minnesota Duluth completed the sweep of Miami on Saturday with a 3-1 win in Game 2 of the a best-of-three NCHC first-round playoff series at Amsoil Arena. The Bulldogs now advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff next weekend at the Target Center in Minneapolis for the first time in the NCHC’s three-year history to face North Dakota on Friday at a time to be determined. St. Cloud State will face Denver in the other semifinal.
Below are my thumbs up and thumbs ups from Saturday’s game, plus my three stars of the night.
Thumbs up to UMD’s penalty kill
The Bulldogs penalty kill was the star of Game 2 on Saturday. Not only did it shut down six Miami power plays, but it scored two goals off Miami’s six advantages.
Junior wing Kyle Osterberg got the first shorthanded goal of the night 91 seconds in to put UMD up 1-0. It was a soul-crushing goal for Miami to give up considering the night before the RedHawks surrendered three third-period goals to blow a 4-2 lead in Game 1.
“I went down on the boards, got the puck and just tried shoveling it in,” Osterberg said. “I saw low glove but it went five-hole, so that was a lucky bounce for me.”
The second shorty for UMD was an even luckier bounce. Senior center Tony Cameranesi got behind the Miami power play unit and was all alone at center ice when the puck bounced right to him off something or someone on or close to the Miami bench.
The officials never reviewed, only discussed amongst themselves, the play to see what the puck hit before landing at Cameranesi’s stick. The stripes let the goal stand and that was the dagger in Miami’s season.
“The fact that it bounced right at me wasn’t quite planned, but I was trying to get out a little bit,” Cameranesi said, adding he noticed sophomore Karson Kuhlman of Esko had some time to make a play to him. “I was trying to get out and for sure if he dumped it, put some pressure on their D-man and make it a tough break out. The bounce was nice.”
UMD had just two shorthanded goals all regular season with just one coming in NCHC play. Now they head to Minneapolis with four shorties and a penalty kill succeeding 86.2 percent of the time. UMD finished 8-of-9 on the kill this weekend and will need a similar effort with the league’s top two power plays in St. Cloud State (29.5 percent) and North Dakota (19.5) looming in the Frozen Faceoff.
Thumbs up to UMD’s power play all weekend long
Like UMD’s offense this season, the power play has been hit and miss, with it missing more often than not. The Bulldogs enter for Frozen Faceoff with just a 15.8 percent success rate, which ranks seventh in the eight-team NCHC.
This weekend against Miami the Bulldogs finished at 27.3 percent, converting on 3-of-11 advantages. UMD was 2-for-6 on Friday with senior defenseman Andy Welinski tying the game at 2-2 in the second and freshman defenseman Neal Pionk tying the game again in the third at 4-4.
UMD finished 1-for-5 on Saturday with Welinski picking up his second power play goal of the weekend via quick passing by junior wing Alex Iafallo and sophomore center Jared Thomas to get Welinski an open look.
In it’s six-game win streak (that includes four-straight wins over Miami and two at SCSU) UMD’s power play is clicking at 22.3 percent (5-of-22) and dating back to the two tight 2-1 losses at North Dakota, UMD is 20.1 percent (6-of-29) on the advantage.
“Better,” UMD coach Scott Sandelin said of the power play going into the Frozen Faceoff. “We scored some goals down the stretch here. Andy scored a great goal, Jared (Thomas) made a great play. (The RedHawks) are a hard team. There is a reason their kill is almost at 92 percent. They are very aggressive, they don’t give you much room and you got to really know where the puck is going.”
Miami came into the weekend with a 92.6 percent success rate on the penalty kill. They finish the season at 90.9 percent.
Matt’s Three Stars
3. UMD senior defenseman Andy Welinski: Two power play goals in two games for Welinski with Saturday’s goal giving UMD a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.
2. UMD senior center Tony Cameranesi: Sandelin called this goal “deflating” for Miami. Cameranesi’s shorty was indeed the dagger at 12:46 of the second period. Prior to that, Miami seemed to be holding its own with a chance to rally in the third down just two.
1. UMD junior wing Kyle Osterberg: You just blew a 4-2 second intermission lead the night before by giving up three third-period goals to lose Game 1 of a best-of-three playoff series. What’s the worst that could happen to start Game 2? How about giving up a shorthanded goal 91 seconds in. Cameranesi’s shorty may have been deflating, but Osterberg’s was a kick to the gut.