Goalie Hunter Shepard made 19 saves and made an early lead stand up as the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs beat Western Michigan, 2-0, and swept their first-round NCHC playoff series. Duluth advances to the Frozen Faceoff next weekend in St. Paul, while Western Michigan’s season is over.
Duluth took a 1-0 lead just 2:24 into the game. The Bulldogs broke in on a three-on-two when Jade Miller started the play with a pass through the neutral zone to Billy Exell racing up the right side. Exell got off a slap shot from the top of the circle, and the Western defenders blocked Exell and Miller, but no one picked up Louie Roehl racing up the center, and he backhanded the rebound into the open net.
Jared Thomas scored an empty-net goal with .9 seconds left on the clock to seal the win.
