This past weekend, the University of North Dakota swept their non-conference series against Bentley University. Coming into the series, I am not sure anyone knew what to expect. UND had never played Bentley, and despite the hype, everyone expected to come to Ralph Englestad Arena and battle UND for two games. That didn’t really materialize except for about 5 minutes of the first period in game one.
Head coach Dan Jackson mentioned that in Friday’s post-game press conference.
"Mentally, they were probably a little more ready to play than us," Jackson said. "We were not moving the puck very crisply or handling passes. We weren’t able to break out and come through the neutral zone. Once we got into the game, we were much better on our pass completion, and we started to play with some pace."
Once UND shook off their early-series jitters, they gave the Falcons nothing. UND was relentless, giving Bentley little time and space. UND held Bentley to 29 shots on net for the weekend and put 74 shots on the Falcons' net.
Obviously, this was an Atlantic Hockey opponent, and UND’s task will get a bit harder next weekend when they travel to Minnesota to play the winless Gophers 0-3-1. This past weekend was not good for Minnesota. The Gophers traveled to Amsoil Arena, were badly beaten 7-1 on Friday night, and then tied 2-2 with the Bulldogs in game two on Saturday. They’re off to a rough start after being swept by the Michigan Tech Huskies two weeks ago (3-2 L, 3-1 L). They’ll be a little angry, looking for redemption, and UND will face a hostile crowd at Mariucci in 3M Arena.
Zellers Held Scoreless
One thing that stood out this weekend was that UND’s top line of Will Zellers, Cole Reschny, and Jack Kernan played well, but UND’s top point-getter, Zellers, didn’t get on the score sheet. In two games against the Falcons, Zellers put seven shots on net and zero points on the scoreboard (0g-0a—0pts) in 35 minutes of ice time. One thing that stood out to me on Saturday night was that 12 different UND players recorded at least one point in the win. That’s definitely the definition of balanced scoring.
UND Has Two Great Goalies
This past weekend, freshman goalie Caleb Heil got his first two collegiate starts and made the most of them. He capitalized on his opportunity, earning two wins and two shutouts. UND won both games 5-0. Sophomore goalie Jan Spunar wasn’t 100 percent healthy, so the coaching staff gave Spunar the weekend off.
“By the start of next week, he’ll be 100 percent,” Jackson said. “He was a little bit off, and we just wanted to be really careful. We wanted to get Caleb in there, but then when he played so well, it just gave us the luxury to, you know, get Jan really healthy.”
According to the UND SID, Heil is believed to be the first freshman goaltender in North Dakota history to record back-to-back shutouts to begin his career. The stats line on Heil (2-0-0, 0.00 GAA, SV% 1,000): 2 shutouts.
Connor Davis Shines
This past weekend, freshman forward Connor Davis was very good; he’s going to make an immediate impact. I wonder if he flew under the radar. In the two-game series, he scored (1g-2--3pts). Friday, he was voted the second star of the game. My first impression: he goes hard to the net, gets in the dirty areas, and looks pretty good defensively. The Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, native is 20 years old and a fifth-round draft pick by the Vancouver Canucks.
There will be more this week. If you haven't seen the games, here are the highlights from Friday and Saturday. Here are some of my photos from Saturday’s game.
