No. 7-ranked Minnesota Duluth picked up its fifth-straight victory over Minnesota on Friday, beating the No. 15 Gophers 3-1 at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis.
Here are my up and thumbs down from Friday’s game, plus my three stars of the game.
Thumbs up to the UMD’s response to the Gophers’ lone goal
We saw it last weekend in Bemidji when UMD senior wing Austyn Young scored 28 seconds after Bemidji State’s Leo Fitzgerald gave the Beavers a 2-1 lead.
Friday in Minneapolis, UMD once again responded quickly to a goal that should have changed the course of the game. Freshman wing Brent Gates Jr. pulled the Gophers within one goal 5:40 into the third period, but 38 seconds later junior center Dominic Toninato snatched the momentum right back for UMD by putting three consecutive shots on goal. He finally buried his second rebound to put UMD back up by two.
“That’s two games in a row,” UMD coach Scott Sandelin said. “We did that same thing in Bemidji after they scored. It was a great effort on the goal.”
Thumbs down to Austin Farley possibly jinxing Saturday’s game
So on Tuesday, I interviewed UMD senior defenseman Willie Corrin and asked him about getting to play the Gophers in the delayed home opener. He dropped this quote about last Friday’s events, the infamous Amsoil Arena Power Outage of 2015:
“They play a fast game, we play a fast game, big ice for Friday, then we’re back here for Saturday. Hopefully the power doesn’t go out again so we get them back here.” – Willie Corrin
Corrin then attempted to knock on wood, but there was no wood to knock on. He knocked on the plastic boards.
Turns out you actually have to knock on wood — plastic doesn’t count — because Amsoil Arena again lost power on Friday night, though it was restored in time for the UMD women to beat Minnesota State-Mankato.
Not learning from Corrin’s mistake, UMD senior wing Austin Farley decided to test the electricity god’s Friday after beating the Gophers. He said this in response to a question from UMD Hall of Fame SID Bob Nygaard about returning home to play the Gophers:
“Hopefully we can play. Is the power on? I haven’t checked yet.” – Austin Farley
If there is no game Saturday, it’s Austin Farley’s fault.
Matt’s Three Stars
3. UMD senior wing Austin Farley: What’s helped UMD in its five straight wins over Minnesota is scoring in bunches to get the Gophers reeling. Farley’s goal just three minutes after Thomas’ put UMD firmly in control the rest of the night.
2. UMD sophomore center Jared Thomas: UMD had a lot of great chances up prior to Thomas’ chance, but no one was converting. His score opened the flood gates.
1. UMD junior center Dominic Toninato: It took him three swipes, but he finally got the puck in the net and in the process killed any momentum the Gophers had acquired from their first goal of the season, scored 38 seconds earlier.