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GRAND FORKS — Dave Hakstol was in UND’s locker room before Friday night’s game.
The former UND coach, who is now behind the bench of the NHL’s best team, the Colorado Avalanche, delivered a message to the Fighting Hawks about playing hockey down the stretch.
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And who could be a better messenger?
Hakstol’s teams were known for going on late-season runs annually. He led UND to seven NCAA Frozen Fours in 11 seasons as head coach.
“He talked to our guys about tournament-style games, how hard they are and how you have to be ready for anything,” UND coach Dane Jackson said. “One of his key points was that you don’t always have to make a great play, but you can’t make a weak one. I thought it was kind of ironic that we had a game like that.”
UND stuck to Hakstol’s message, bottled up Miami for 60 minutes and grabbed a 1-0 victory in front of 11,609 in Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Tyler Young scored the lone goal, tipping an Andrew Strathmann point shot midway through the second period.
That goal thwarted a brilliant performance by Miami sophomore goaltender Matteo Drobac, who stopped 41 of 42 shots to keep the game close.
UND goalie Jan Špunar only needed to make 12 saves to post his fourth shutout of the season.
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Špunar, who was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award as the nation’s top goalie Friday afternoon, now has more shutouts this season than losses (three).
“I thought we made a lot of strong, basic plays,” Jackson said. “We managed the puck well when we had to chip it out or eat a puck defensively. I thought we did a good job of that. It was a good litmus test in a game like that where their goalie was outstanding and there wasn’t much time or space out there. We just took what the game gave us. We methodically checked and worked and we created quite a lot of good chances, actually. I just liked the perseverance we had. You’ve got to be comfortable playing in a tight game.”
No. 3 UND (22-7, 14-5 National Collegiate Hockey Conference) surpassed last year’s win total Friday and moved within three victories of winning the Penrose Cup.
The Fighting Hawks will go for the series sweep at 6:07 p.m. Saturday.
UND controlled the game from the start, outshooting Miami 14-3 in a physical first period. But it didn’t break through until the midway point in the second.
Strathmann launched a shot from the left point to the slot area, where Young deflected it low past Drobac’s left pad. It was Young’s third goal of the season. Two have come on deflections.
“We do the tip club a lot on the Olympic sheet,” Young said. “Plenty of practice. I think of it very simple. If you’re on the right side of the net, puck’s coming from the right, try to tip it to the left. Don’t try to make it too difficult. You don’t know if you’re trying to score or not. You’re trying to create havoc, broken plays. That’s where our skill comes out. If you can just create a mess in front of the net, good things usually happen.”
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It was a memorable one for Young.
His father, Scott, is an assistant coach with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. Because the NHL is on Olympic break, he attended his first game in Ralph Engelstad Arena on Friday.
“That was pretty cool to have his dad come in and watch him and see him play such a strong game,” Jackson said. “So much trust in Tyler. He’s come in as a guy who was a late, late add — him and Ollie Josephson were late adds. He’s such a reliable guy.”
Jackson was particularly pleased with UND’s defending.
For the eighth time this season, the Fighting Hawks held an opponent under 20 shots on goal. They rank third nationally, allowing just 23.2 per game.
Since UND’s bye week Jan. 30-31, the Fighting Hawks have allowed just two five-on-five goals in three games — and one came off of an opponent’s skate.
“We’ve talked about it lots,” UND defenseman Keaton Verhoeff said. “It’s just kind of keeping it simple, not going out on one shift to try to change the game, just try to play every shift, have that safe mentality, and when you have your chances to jump up and make plays, you jump up and make a play. I think as a ‘D’ corps today, and as an entire defensive group, we really stepped up. We were making smart plays. We were punting it out of the zone when we needed to and just making that really simple, crisp pass we talked about all week.”
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