No. 17-ranked Minnesota Duluth finished off a sweep of Western Michigan via a 6-2 win Saturday in NCHC play at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
Below are my thumbs up and thumbs down from Saturday’s game, plus my three stars of the night.
Thumbs up to Kaskisuo’s record-breaking shutout streak
Sophomore Kasimir Kaskisuo had his shutout streak come to an end in the second period on Saturday, capping it at 263 minutes, 56 minutes. The previous UMD record was held by Kenny Rieter, who went 166:45 without giving up a goal in November of 2011.
The 263:56 spanned five games, included three-straight shutouts and featured 123 saves.
He got plenty of support from the offense, which scored 21 goals in that 263:56. The Bulldogs offense stepped up its play the last four games — all wins — and Kaskisuo matched it.
Kaskisuo said after his third-straight shutout on Friday that he should probably start saving his shutouts for tighter games. When one of those eventually does roll around — like next weekend against North Dakota — UMD should be pretty confident Kaskisuo will be up for the challenge.
Thumbs down to not jumping on Western early enough
Friday’s win for UMD was never in doubt. That wasn’t the case Saturday. It took UMD 14:28 to get on the board and it wasn’t until the 30 second mark of the third period that the Bulldogs finally inserted the dagger into Western’s chances.
The Broncos deserve credit for coming out and playing much better during the first period Saturday after looking awful on Friday, but UMD can’t let a bad team like Western hang around like it did.
Things got a little uneasy in the second period when Western cut the lead to one. Senior center Tony Cameranesi then put UMD back up by two at 17:36 and senior wing Austin Farley inserted the dagger 30 seconds into the third.
Matt’s Three Stars
3. UMD freshman defenseman Shelby Brossart: According to the original graphic on the Amsoil Arena video board during the second period on Saturday, Brossart, No. 24 for the UMD women’s hockey team, gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead Saturday. Brossart described her goal as a one-timer, top shelf. It sure sounds like a beaut of a shot, much better than the one I watched the UMD men’s team’s No. 24, Austyn Young, score. He and the puck basically slid into the Western net. The refs said that’s OK. Broncos coach Andy Murray didn’t agree. I think Murray would have enjoyed Brossart’s goal better.
2. UMD senior center Tony Cameranesi: UMD coach Scott Sandelin used the word “big” three times to describe Cameranesi’s goal at 17:36 of the second period. It came exactly four minutes after Western ended Kaskisuo’s shutout streak to cut the margin to one. Cameranesi put UMD back up by two.
1. UMD senior wing Austin Farley: Farley totaled four goals and three assists two weeks ago at Colorado College. This weekend he finished down a point with two goals and four assists. Two goals and two assists came tonight. His power play goal 30 seconds into the third period was the dagger. Not too shabby.