COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Max Plante took a five-minute major in the first period on Friday. On a different night, it’s not inconceivable that his night would have ended on the play.
On this one, it did not.
Colorado College likely wishes it had.
A natural hat trick from the nation’s leading scorer later, UMD flipped the script and beat the Tigers 4-2 at a fiery Ed Robson Arena Friday night.
A few takeaways:
1. Max Plante is good at hockey. Maybe the major penalty — arguably a marginal call, but one made after a two-minute video review and one I do believe was correct — pissed him off. Maybe he was already ornery after being held to one assist last weekend against Omaha, his entire line left frustrated by a tough game Saturday.
(The penalty? Max sent CC forward Drew Montgomery awkwardly into the corner boards as the two went for a loose puck in the air. It wasn’t anything malicious, but Montgomery went headfirst toward the wall after some high contact by Max, then he drove Montgomery into the boards as his momentum carried him toward the wall. I don’t think there was much that could have been done differently, as it was a play borne out of two dudes trying to get the puck out of the air and gain possession for their team. But it looked like a major live and was called one after the review.)
Either way, boy howdy did UMD benefit.
Plante’s first career hat trick is of the natural variety, as he scored the game’s final three goals.
Trailing 2-1 in the second period, Plante sent a missile from the left flank by Colorado College goalie Kaidan Mbereko to tie the game during a five-on-three. Given another five-on-three in the third when Tigers defenseman Ryan Koering was called for interference on a hit that jarred UMD captain Joey Pierce’s helmet loose and CC coach Kris Mayotte got a bench minor before the initial power play started, Plante ripped the eventual game-winner by Mbereko. He added an empty netter when Adam Gajan sent a Colorado College dump in up the wall and out to Plante at the UMD blue line. He brought the puck ahead and made no mistake from center ice.
Three goals. Four shots.
Max Plante is good, kids. Nice to have this kind of guy on our team.
2. The Bulldogs got better as the game went on. Colorado College generated the lion’s share of its shots and best chances (at least off the rush) in the first period. UMD outshot the Tigers 25-9 over the final 40 minutes.
Both CC goals — by Gavin Lindberg and Connor Hvidston — came off the rush in the first period, with Lindberg beating Aaron Pionk down the left flank and Hvidston coming in on the right wing. It looked like defenseman Riley Bodnarchuk was with Hvidston, but he got the shot off before Bodnarchuk could get his stick on the puck.
UMD tightened up after that. The Tigers were without a shot for the first 10:20 of the third period, with the Bulldogs expertly playing patient zone-to-zone hockey.
And Adam Gajan (18 saves) was good when he had to be, shaking off the first-period goals like a veteran. Another good sign.
3. A new-look fourth line had a pretty good night. Harper Bentz made his return after a 13-game absence after getting hurt in the second game in Alaska. Ryan Zaremba was back in the lineup after sitting last Saturday against Omaha, and Kyler Kovich worked as the center. Kovich got his first career goal after Zaremba forced a turnover on an attempted zone exit by the Tigers.
Bentz was Bentz, using a smart stick to disrupt plays in all zones. He didn’t have a shot, but he was a factor in some of UMD’s pressure and in the Bulldogs’ ability to turn the Tigers away over the last 40 minutes. Kovich is such a heady, unselfish player, and a great fit in this role.
Don’t be shocked if Hunter Anderson draws back in on Saturday after sitting Friday (the first time, by the way, that UMD has won a game he sat out), but it isn’t likely to be for any of these three if it happens at all.
4. Now, we find out about Saturday. UMD is now 8-0 on Friday nights, but just 4-3 on Saturday heading into a 7pm rematch here. UMD has been shut out twice (Augustana and Omaha), while losing 5-1 at North Dakota.
Here’s what Scott Sandelin had to say before Friday’s game about the 2-0 loss to Omaha last weekend.
“It just seemed they wanted it a little bit more. Our execution wasn’t where it needed to be. We could have used maybe a goal on the power play. That went 0-for-5, but I’m going to give the other team credit, too. I thought they played a simple, hard game, and took advantage of a couple opportunities. We had shots against their goalie, but we didn’t really test him.”
We’re picking a nits to an extent here. The Bulldogs are 12-3. Not a soul thought this was coming when the season started. But the ride continues, and hopefully it rolls on Saturday
5. This Colorado College outfit is going to have a thing or two to say about it. UMD held the home team to a season-low 2.0 expected goals on Friday. This was a Tigers team that came in with ten goals fewer than expected (37 actual, 47 expected). CC will try to bring more pressure on Saturday, and UMD will need to do a better job defending the rush and staying out of the box.
Offensively, the Bulldogs didn’t cause a lot of chaos in front of Mbereko. Some on Kovich’s goal, but Mbereko was beaten clean by Max Plante for both five-on-three goals. It will likely take a dirtier game from UMD in the offensive zone to generate chances and goals on Saturday.
6. Colorado College fans booed former Tiger and current Bulldog Brady Cleveland every time he touched the puck. In the first period.
Nothing after that. Cleveland didn’t play a ton, but it was like they got so mad at the refs that they forgot about Cleveland.
Between the five-on-three that came from the bench minor in the third, and the wild play late in the second where CC’s Ryan Alexander collided with referee Ryan Hersey while heading into the UMD zone for a two-on-one, the fans had plenty to be irritated with the men in stripes over.
(Felt bad for Hersey. He just got caught during a quick transition off a faceoff in the Tigers zone. A bad look, yes, but he was in no man’s land. That’s one of the best referees the NCHC has, one of few who can say he’s worked a national title game. He had the Minnesota-Quinnipiac game, one of few years the NCHC has sat out the title game, and that’s really the only its refs can get to work it.)
7. Western Michigan made it three wins in a row with 18 goals scored, thanks to a 7-2 drubbing of Omaha at Baxter Arena.
A Mavericks team that has been bleeding chances most of the year might be breaking senior goalie Simon Latkoczy. In his last four games, Latkoczy (the reigning NCHC Goaltender of the Year, by the way) is 0-4 with a 5.51 goals against and .838 save percentage. Yes, the quality of chances conceded is a major issue, but Omaha isn’t going anywhere if something about the equation doesn’t quickly get fixed.
Elsewhere, Denver scored early and often, routing Arizona State 7-1 in Tempe. Eric Pohlkamp scored twice, with Samu Salminen tallying a goal and three assists.
Miami got a Matteo Giampa goal in overtime to rescue two points in a 6-5 win over St. Cloud State. The Huskies rallied from 2-0, 3-2, and 5-3 deficits in their first game outside of Minnesota this season.
North Dakota beat the U.S. Under 18s 6-1 in an exhibition game.
Rematches of everything but the exhibition Saturday.
8. Tough loss for the UMD women Friday, as Ohio State held on to win 3-1. UMD started very slowly, getting outshot 21-1 in the first period. But Eve Gascon did Eve Gascon things all night, stopping 20 in the first and 50 in the game. UMD steadied itself a bit, but only a Rae Mayer shot in the third found the twine.
Caitlin Kraemer was ejected in the third period after a very strange sequence. OSU went to the net on a scoring chance as Gascon covered a puck, and Kraemer hit two OSU players high. The first was called a penalty on the ice, reviewed, and Kraemer was giving a minor for indirect head contact. OSU then challenged the second hit by Kraemer, which was called a five and a game. UMD killed the seven minutes of penalties, but it was going to be a tough lift to tie the game without its best player.
Rematch Saturday at 3pm.
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We’ll hit the air at 6:30 Saturday, faceoff in Colorado Springs at 7pm. We know you’ll tune in for UMD football at noon against Ashland in the Division II playoffs out in Ohio as well.
Back pregame with the lines.
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