GRAND FORKS, N.D. — It’s too soon to predict exactly how good North Dakota can be this season, but UND should be solid again if its ascendancy through its season-opening exhibition game was an indicator.
UND had issues getting out of first gear in Sunday’s first period against Manitoba as UND shook off the cobwebs. However, three power-play goals ended up being more than enough to give the hosts a 4-0 win at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Second-ranked UND huffed and puffed with little success early in the game, but finally began executing on offense late in the first period.
The first period was typical of the start of a season-opening exhibition, compete with a glaring lack of grade ‘A’ scoring chances. UND burned brighter as the frame went on and it eventually opened the scoring late in the first period.
On UND’s second power play of the evening, the hosts finally gave Bisons starting goaltender Deven Dubyk his first true test of the night. He’d been up to the task through the game’s early throes, but with UND on its second power play of the evening, forward Luke Johnson put UND ahead at 16:17 by swatting home a rebound from a few feet out.
Johnson’s night then ended prematurely early in the second period due to a major checking-from-behind penalty. In his stead, another offensive weapon for UND doubled the hosts’ lead 8:26 into the middle stanza.
UND’s second goal of the game, again on a power play, saw a pair of brothers link up nearly halfway through their first collegiate game together. Freshman forward Nick Schmaltz threaded a pass to his brother, junior defenseman Jordan, before the elder Schmaltz sniped a shot from above the left circle over backup UM goalie Brendan Jensen’s blocker.
The Bisons then swiftly fell even further behind in the third period by way of two UND goals 34 seconds apart.
UND forward Brendan O’Donnell then got on the score sheet 6:15 into the third period. Holding off a Bisons defender down the half wall in the UM zone, O’Donnell cut left and beat third-string Manitoba goaltender Bryon Spriggs.
The hosts then found themselves up 4-0 almost immediately after O’Donnell’s tally. Nick Schmaltz again proved instrumental by zipping a pretty cross-ice feed to linemate Wade Murphy before Murphy buried a third UND power play goal beyond Spriggs.
UM failed to get onto the scoreboard over the rest of the game, thus allowing UND goaltenders Zane McIntyre and Cam Johnson to post a combined shutout.
UND head coach Dave Hakstol said after the game that, while the exhibition win marked only a small step forward for his team, he was pleased with what he saw.
“A game situation is so much different than a practice situation, no matter how well you practice or how sharp you are or how much pace you practice with,” Hakstol said. “Game time is always a little bit different, so to get into that atmosphere and to get into that competitive mode was real important, and I thought it was a nice step for us tonight.
“We have a long way to go, but a good starting point was what we want. We wanted to go out and play a good solid game, improve a little bit, make some plays and play with speed, and I thought we did all of those things.”
UND will officially open its 2014-15 campaign on Friday at home against Bemidji State in the first leg of a home-and-home series.
