Long time rivals North Dakota and Minnesota will hook-up in first
round WCHA playoff action at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks,
ND with Friday’s opener set for 8:30pm ET on FCS Central.
Saturday’s contest at 8pm ET on FCS Central, and a potential
third game on Sunday at 8pm ET on FCS Central.
The No. 5-ranked UND Fighting Sioux (20-11-5, 15-10-3 WCHA),
sporting a current nation’s best seven-game winning streak,
and the Minnesota Golden Gophers (17-17-2, 12-14-2 WCHA) split
their four-game regular season series 1-1-2. On the opening weekend
of the 2009-10 conference schedule, Oct. 16-17, host North Dakota
won 4-0 and tied 3-3 (OT) to take three points from UM. Then on
Jan. 15-16 in Minneapolis, the two clubs tied 3-3 (OT) in game one
before the Gophers captured a 5-1 triumph in game two.
Minnesota is 0-6 against North Dakota in Grand Forks in the
WCHA playoffs. They are 0-9 overall in the postseason in Grand
Forks with three NCAA tournament defeats. However, the Golden
Gophers have made 11 straight trips to the WCHA Final Five while
North Dakota has made seven straight appearances. Minnesota is
15-1-0 this season when holding opponents to two goals or fewer and
2-16-2 when opponents score three goals or more.
Sophomore Jordan Schroeder leads Minnesota in points (27) and
assists (19), junior Mike Hoeffel leads the team in goals (12),
while senior Tony Lucia has career highs with 11 goals, 15 assists
and 26 points. Junior goaltender Alex Kangas ranks second in the
WCHA with a .917 saves percentage in league games. Over his last
seven starts, Kangas has a 2.16 goals against average and .926
saves percentage.
UND has held opponents to two goals or fewer during its
current seven-game winning streak and continues to lead the WCHA
and rank third in the nation in scoring defense (2.14 goals per
game). Sophomore G Brad Eidsness has a 1.57 goals-against average
and .940 save percentage during UND’s seven-game winning
streak. Overall, he ranks second in the WCHA in goals-against
average (2.16) and 11th nationally.
Offensively, UND has three players with 30 or more points
with Chris VandeVelde leading the way with 33 points (13 goals and
a career-high 20 assists), followed by 31 points from Jason
Gregoire (18 goals and 13 assists), and freshman Danny Kristo has
30 points (13 goals and 17 assists). Kristo’s team-leading
eight power-play goals rank first nationally among freshmen, and he
leads all WCHA rookies in points (30), points per game (0.88),
goals (13) and power-play points (18).
Minnesota leads the all-time series 138-125-14 but North
Dakota is 67-53-8 all-time against the Gophers on home ice. It
marks the first time the two teams have met in the first round
since 2002 and the first time the Gophers have played a WCHA
playoff series in North Dakota since 1987.
Don’t forget to catch these games on Fox College Sports
starting Friday at 8:30pm ET on FCS Central, then game two on
Saturday at 8pm ET on FCS Central and game three (if necessary) on
Sunday at 8pm ET on FCS Central.
