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Grand Forks, ND – The Fighting Sioux have had the first goal scored on them in nine of 12 games they have played this season; the Fighting Sioux finally changed their fortunes tonight by scoring the first goal of the game on their first shift of the game.
After being held scoreless the weekend before, Fighting Sioux junior forward Danny Kristo wasted no time getting the first of his two goals for Fighting Sioux. At the 0:36 mark of the first period, Kristo took a pass from Corbin Knight at the right faceoff circle, Kristo skated towards the Tiger net and shot the puck through Tiger goalie Josh Thorimber’s pads to give the Fighting Sioux an early 1-0 lead.
The Fighting Sioux weren’t done in the first period as they went on the power play at the 06:24 mark of the first period when Tigers forward Nick Dineen was assessed a two minute minor for tripping.
The Fighting Sioux wasted little time on the ensuing power play, extending their lead to 2-0. Corbin Knight fed Carter Rowney a nice pass from behind the net and Rowney shot the puck into an open net as the Tiger goalie Thorimber was looking the other way. After the game Colorado College Tigers coach Scott Owens said, “he wasn’t happy with his defensemen’s play down low near their net.”
The Colorado College Tigers didn’t go away quietly and cut the score to 2-1 at the 12:04 mark of the first period with a goal from Tiger forward Rylan Schwartz.
The Fighting Sioux answered the Tiger goal and extended their lead to two again at the 14:40 mark of the first period when Sioux freshman forward Michael Parks scored his second goal of the year.
The Tigers didn’t take long to answer the Fighting Sioux’s third goal and at the 17:31 mark of the first period, Scott Winkler picked up a loose puck and scored a off of a wild scramble in front of the Sioux net, to make the score 3-2 Sioux. The Tigers outshot the Sioux 13-12 in the first period.
The second period was as exciting as the first period and the Tigers scored the game tying goal at the 0:29 mark of the second period, Tiger defenseman Gabe Guentzel took shot from the left point that appeared to surprise Dell. On the replay, it looked as if the Guentzel’s shot from the point might have hit something in front of the Sioux net.
The Sioux scored again at the 05:38 mark of the second period; Ben Blood took a hard shot that caromed off the post, the rebound shot out the point and Nick Mattson blasted the puck past the Tiger goalie Thorimber.
The Fighting Sioux fans didn’t get a chance to sit down from celebrating Mattson’s goal before Brock Nelson gave the home town fans something else to cheer about, when Nelson scored his first of two goals a minute and 10 seconds later.
The Tigers then scored three goals in a little over three minutes and chased Fighting Sioux goalie Aaron Dell from the net with a goal from Nick Dineen and two goals from Tiger forward Rylan Schwartz to make the score 6-5 Tigers. That ended a less than impressive night for the Dell and he was replaced by senior goalie Brad Eidsness.
Neither starting goaltender was very sharp tonight and both starting goalies would watch the rest of the game from their respective benches, as both starting goalies were pulled midway through the second period.
Fighting Sioux forward Danny Kristo stopped the string of three unanswered Tiger goals, by taking a Tiger turnover in the slot and shooting the puck past Tiger goalie Joe Howe to tie the game at 6-6. That was all of the scoring in the second period and the Tigers would outshot the Sioux 16-13.
After scoring 12 goals through two periods of hockey, both teams settled down and played more conservatively in the third period. The Sioux would go on the power play at the 11:19 mark of the third period, Tiger forward Jeff Collett was assessed a two minute minor for cross-checking. Brock Nelson scored the game winning power play goal for the Fighting Sioux at the 11:54 mark of the third period.
The Fighting Sioux would hang on for the win, and Fighting Sioux goalie Brad Eidsness would finish the game picking up the win for the Fighting Sioux. Eidsness stopped all 13 shots that faced. The Sioux also had to kill a Tiger penalty when Ben Blood was called for cross-checking at the 15:54 mark of the third period.
Fighting Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol had this to say after the game when asked about pulling his starting goalie Aaron Dell and replacing him with Brad Eidsness in the second period. Hakstol said, “he needed to make a change for our team and try to dam things up a little bit and Brad [Eidsness] did a great job going in and gave us a chance to win.”
Tonight’s game was the highest scoring game between the two teams since November 24, 1995 game where the Tigers won 9-5.
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