Minnesota-Duluth sophomore goalie Nate Ziegelmann returned to his home town and got the start against his former team, the North Dakota Fighting Sioux.
But UND junior goalie Jordan Parise ruined the homecoming, stopping all 28 shots he faced as the Sioux cruised to a 4-0 victory over their WCHA rivals. Parise remained unbeaten in his nine starts against UMD and collected the seventh shutout of his career.
“I thought he did a lot of good things,” said UND coach Dave Hakstol of Parise’s performance. “He had to make some good saves. We killed a five-on-three power play at a critical time of the game. Your goaltender in those situations is your best penalty killer.”
Ziegelmann played at Grand Forks Red River High School and spent the 2003-2004 season at UND before transferring to UMD. He hadn’t played since UMD’s second and third games of the season in October, both losses.
UMD coach Scott Sandelin offered no explanation as to why he chose to start Ziegelmann instead of senior goalie Isaac Reichmuth, who is a career 2-7-1 against UND.
“I thought he played pretty well, considering that he hadn’t played since October,” Sandelin said of Ziegelmann’s performance.
UND notched its first goal at 9:19 of the first period when defenseman Matt Smaby’s outlet pass sent the Sioux in three-on-two. Center Travis Zajac passed to Erik Fabian at the right side of the net. The junior forward pounded the puck through Ziegelmann’s five-hole for the game winner and his sixth goal of the season.
In the second period, the Bulldogs came out with jump, out hustling and outshooting the Sioux. UND’s first shot on goal of the period didn’t come until the 5:03 mark when junior forward Drew Stafford won a battle for the puck in the right corner and fired a wrister from a bad angle. It beat Ziegelmann short side to give UND a 2-0 lead.
The power play was the difference in the third period as UND cashed in on two of its three opportunities, and UMD went 0-3 with the man advantage. After winning a face off in the Bulldogs zone, freshman T.J. Oshie and Zajac came in all alone on Ziegelmann. Oshie held the puck until the goalie went down, then roofed over him to give the Sioux a 3-0 lead.
Parise made his best save of the game with UMD on the power play and just over three minutes left in the game. Bulldogs freshman forward Mason Raymond pulled the puck out of a melee in front of the goal and fired it toward what appeared to be an open net. But Parise slid across to stone Raymond and preserve the shutout.
“They’re one of those teams that doesn’t like to lose,” Parise said of the Bulldogs. “You can’t let teams back in the game, especially a team like that. Every time we’ve played them, they get a spark in the last ten minutes of the game.”
Stafford scored his 20th goal of the season on the power play with 1:38 left in the game. Freshman forward Ryan Duncan made a cross-ice saucer pass that Stafford one-timed past Ziegelmann from near the left dot. The 4-0 victory gave UND its 11th victory over the Bulldogs in their last 12 games.
At 19-13-1 overall and 12-11-0 in the WCHA, the Sioux remained in sixth place in the league, just one point behind Colorado College and St. Cloud State, each with 25 points and tied for fourth place. UMD is 9-18-4 overall and 6-14-3 in league play.
“It’s a win that we needed,” Hakstol said. “It’s an important two points.”
The two teams will meet for the second game of the series in Ralph Engelstad Arena at 7:05 p.m. Saturday.
