No. 7 Minnesota Duluth recorded a 3-1 victory over No. 6 Miami in NCHC play on Friday at Steve “Coach” Cady Arena in Oxford, Ohio.
Here are my thumbs up and thumbs up from Friday’s game, followed by my three stars of the game.
Thumbs up to the Bulldogs’ power play
At first glance, it looked as if Friday night would be the least likely night for the Bulldogs power play to burst out of its shell. Going into the weekend, UMD’s power play ranked last in the NCHC at 18.4 percent. The RedHawks penalty kill was No. 1 in the NCHC at 85.8 percent.
But the RedHawks PK had problems with the Bulldogs power play earlier this season. UMD victimized the RedHawks Oct. 31-Nov. 1 in Duluth when the Bulldogs power play was flourishing by going 3-for-11.
The Bulldogs’ once struggling power play is off to an even better start this weekend going 2-for-4 on Friday. Justin Crandall scored on the advantage in the first period and Tony Cameranesi struck in the third period to give UMD its first multiple power play goal night for the first time since Nov. 14 in Minneapolis against the Golden Gophers.
As both players said after the game, the power play goals not only aided the Bulldogs in their victory, but they gave the team a huge boost moving forward on the man advantage.
Thumbs up to the Bulldogs’ penalty kill
You read that right. I’m giving the Bulldogs two thumbs up and no thumbs down tonight.
Penalties could have been a thumbs down, especially after Kyle Osterberg extended an already exhausting Miami power play in the third period for another two minutes with his hook. With UMD struggling to clear the puck out of its zone to get a change, it appeared Carson Soucy’s two minutes for tripping was all the Bulldogs could handle.
Instead, UMD killed off the 3:56 Miami advantage to finish a perfect 4-for-4 on the night on the penalty kill. Goals make the highlight reel, but the real heroes on Friday were the Bulldogs penalty killers.
That was an amazing three minutes and 46 seconds of defense they displayed Friday in the third.
Matt’s Three Stars
3. UMD freshman goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo: The Finnish freshman stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced Friday. It’s tough to fault him for the odd-man-break goal that Blake Coleman finished off for Miami. It was a near perfect night for the Bulldog goaltender.
2. UMD senior wing Justin Crandall: The Bulldogs scored the first goal for the 16th time in 31 games now and are 13-3 in those 16 games. Scoring first forces your opponent to play catch-up the rest of the night. It was key for UMD on the road to force Miami to play catchup. Crandall accomplished that with his power play goal 7:12 into the game.
1. UMD junior center Tony Cameranesi: The eighth goal of the season for Cameranesi proved to be the game-winner on Friday and it came 2:47 into the third period. It took the wind out of Cady Arena, at least until the RedHawks went on the power play for 3:56.