No. 6 North Dakota bounces back to earn the split with No. 11 Minnesota, 3-2; Cornell wins third straight Kelley-Harkness Cup at MSG; McKay posts a five-save shutout for No. 1 Minnesota St.

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No. 6 North Dakota jumped to a 3-0 lead and held on for a 3-2 win over No. 11 Minnesota, a solid bounce back from a 5-1 loss for the Fighting Hawks to the Gophers on Friday (photo: Jim Rosvold)

While there was plenty of reasons to believe that North Dakota suffered a post-Thanksgiving hangover from too much mashed potatoes and stuffing, the Fighting Hawks put their faithful’s minds to rest, bouncing back from a 5-1 defeat to earn a weekend split with rival Minnesota, 3-2, on Saturday.

Though at times it felt like North Dakota dominated the game, particularly at 5:53 of the third period when captain Mark Senden scored his second goal of the night, Minnesota pressed until the final buzzer, scoring twice late to pull within a goal.

Less than two minutes after Senden’s second of the night, Ben Meyers got the Gophers on the board to 3-1.

With 3:30 remaining, Chaz Lucius scored an extra-attacker goal to put an uneasy feeling into the stomachs of the North Dakota fans.

But that was as close as the Gophers got and North Dakota earned the victory and series split. Goaltender Zach Driscoll needed just 11 saves to earn the win.

Scoreboard  |  USCHO.com poll  | PairWise Rankings

No. 10 Cornell 6, Boston University 4

The Cornell offense, which ranked sixth nationally entering Saturday averaging four goals per game, proved that stat is no fluke, bettering that output in a 6-4 victory over Boston University in the eighth edition of Red Hot Hockey at Madison Square Garden.

The Big Red retain the Kelley-Harkness Cup, the trophy given to the winner of the biennial battle of these two teams at the world’s most famous arena.

Six different players recorded goals for Cornell which, after falling behind 2-1 in the first on a goal by BU’s Brian Carrarbas, held leads of 4-2 and 6-3 before Tyler Boucher’s late goal accounted for the 6-4 final.

Among those Cornell goals was a highlight reel tally by Sam Malinski, who split between four BU defenders before roofing the puck.

Through eight editions of Red Hot Hockey, each team has now won three times with two games finishing in a tie. Cornell, though, has won three straight by scores of 2-0 (2019) and 4-3 (2017).

No. 1 Minnesota State 3, Lake Superior State 0

Dryden McKay is the all-time NCAA men’s shutout leader. But few shutouts have ever felt like Saturday’s against Lake Superior State.

McKay faced just five shots – one in the first period, three in the second and one more in the third – to extend his NCAA record to 30, including six this season and three straight.

The senior goaltender did not play on Friday, a 1-0 shutout win for Lake Superiors State. But with two shutouts of St. Thomas last weekend, McKay hasn’t allowed a goal since the third period of a 5-3 win over Bowling Green on November 13. His current shutout streak is 188:22.

The goal scorers on Saturday were Ryan Sandelin, his team leading ninth goal, Reggie Lutz and Tanner Edwards, who picked up his first collegiate goal.

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