2023-10-08 09:53:58
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND Athletics)– No. 7/8 North Dakota blitzed Manitoba for a 10-0 victory in exhibition action on Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
UND, who enters the season with 14 newcomers, had it all on display offensively in the contest, striking for seven goals in the second period before adding a trio of tallies in the third to finish with its largest margin of victory over an opponent since Nov. 1, 2003 vs. Yale (10-0).
Freshman Jayden Perron dazzled in his unofficial collegiate debut, potting three goals and firing a game-high seven shots to record the hat trick. The rookie struck a trio of times in the middle stanza, including a highlight-reel, coast-to-coast goal to cement his hat trick.
Reigning NCHC Rookie of the Year Jackson Blake was also all over the scoresheet with two goals and a pair of assists while fellow sophomore Owen McLaughlin matched Blake’s output of four points with a goal and three helpers to both pace the squad with four points.
Defenseman Logan Britt notched a trio of assists while Jackson Kunz (2g) and Hunter Johannes (2a) rounded out the group of six Fighting Hawks who recorded multiple points. Overall, 15 skaters notched at least a point for the hosts.
The goaltenders weren’t super busy for the green and white, with Ludvig Persson and Hobie Hedquist each finishing with three saves while Caleb Johnson closed out the final 4:41 of the contest and did not see any shots on goal.
NoDak came out flying to begin the game, registering the contest’s first 17 shots in the opening 10 minutes of play, but it was Manitoba netminder Kolby Thornton who put on a show in the first period with 25 saves to keep the game scoreless at the end of one.
Opening up the second stanza on a power play, it took UND only 14 seconds to finally break the scoreless deadlock with Blake rocketing home a one-time pass from Riese Gaber to put the Hawks up, 1-0. McLaughlin quickly made it 2-0 just over a minute later, this time on a feed from Blake, to start the seven-goal onslaught in the middle period.
Three goals from Perron plus two tallies from Kunz and another by Blake over the final 15:11 of the second gave North Dakota a 7-0 lead and sent the 11,692 fans in attendance into a frenzy.
Jake Schmaltz added the eighth goal for UND in the middle of the third period before Kunz and Dylan James rounded out the scoring with a pair in the final five minutes to close out the 10-0 victory.
North Dakota opens the regular season next Friday night with a showdown once morest Army at 7:07 p.m. from Ralph Engelstad Arena in the opening contest of the 2023 Ice Breaker Tournament
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | 10/7/2023 10:21:00 PM | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
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