Preview: UND and Miami meet with plenty on the line – Grand Forks Herald

GRAND FORKS — For UND, it’s simple.

It can win the Penrose Cup at home, no matter what happens around the league, by winning the next four games in regulation.

UND hosts Miami at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 6:07 p.m. Saturday in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Next weekend, St. Cloud State comes to town for a two-game series.

If the Fighting Hawks win all four in regulation, it doesn’t matter what Western Michigan or Denver does down the stretch. If the Fighting Hawks stub their toe, they could be looking at the prospect of needing to get points at Western Michigan’s raucous Lawson Ice Arena the final weekend of the regular season.

The critical stretch of the season has arrived.

“When you get down to these last games, everybody is playing for something, whether it’s for home ice or a league title,” UND coach Dane Jackson said. “The games are definitely heightened in their importance and intensity. It’s that old NCHC way, where it really prepares you for the biggest games, because everybody’s fighting for every inch out there and every small, little puck management decision or one-on-one battle or puck race or box out in front of the net. It comes down to that, the difference of winning or losing. There are so many one-goal games.”

Entering this weekend, the NCHC is divided into three groups of three.

The title contenders are UND, Denver and Western Michigan. Everyone else has been mathematically eliminated from winning the Penrose.

The home-ice battle is between Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State and Miami.

The fight to make the NCHC tournament — the last-place team is eliminated — is between Colorado College, Arizona State and Omaha. Those teams have a chance to climb into the home-ice fight, but it’s a steep climb.

Yes, it’s an adjustment to see Miami in the home-ice battle instead of the basement, a

credit to a massive turnaround.

“One of the main things that jumps out at me is how competitive they are,” Jackson said. “They’re a physical, hard team to play against. It’s noticeable how they finish their checks and how they track and how they work and what a good job they do checking.”

UND defenseman Abram Wiebe added: “Obviously, they’re a lot better than last season. They’ve done a really good job in their transition in the offseason to this season. They’ve got a lot of different players, a whole new roster, basically.”

Miami is 7-2 in its last nine games, including a win over defending national champion Western Michigan last weekend.

“We’ve been talking a lot about them,” UND forward Cody Croal said. “They’re a young team but they’re really solid. They obviously just beat Western in overtime and Western was on a pretty good streak. For us, it’s staying out of the box, sticking to our game, being simple, getting pucks behind them and just being physical with them.”

It’s easy to forget that this season didn’t all break Miami’s way.

Two of Miami’s top three recruits never made it to campus. Artemi Nizameyev signed in the Russian KHL this fall. Goalie Shika Gadzhiev, who led Muskegon to the Clark Cup, was ruled ineligible. Gadzhiev has since signed in Slovakia.

Miami coach Anthony Noreen said working in the United States Hockey League helped teach him and his staff — assistants Troy Thibodeau and David Nies were with him in Tri-City — how to adjust to the unexpected.

“In the USHL, you better know your next move,” he said. “Look at the history of guys who have come into this conference (from the USHL) — Matt Smaby, Bryn Chyzyk, Brett Larson. . . you’re always thinking two steps ahead, five steps ahead. You have to have that level (in the USHL).

“We’ve tried, to do the same here. We’ve always been like, ‘Let’s say Scenario X happens, what’s our next play? What’s our next move?’ I just think you’ve got to be. Nobody is going to make excuses for you if your recruit didn’t get into school. Nobody is going to feel bad for you. Nobody is going to lay off of you.”

This is UND’s first home series in four weeks.

The Fighting Hawks had a bye week sandwiched by road trips to Tempe, Ariz., and Duluth, Minn.

“It’s been a while,” Wiebe said. “Excited to get the fans back in The Ralph. It’s going to be pretty cool.”

UND		Mia
21-7	Rec	17-9-2
3	NPI	20
3.9 (3rd)	Off	3.2 (20th)
2.2 (6th)	Def	2.8 (27th)
28.3 (6th)	PP	13.5 (56th)
81.1 (28th)	PK	81.1 (28th)
53.7 (8th)	FO	46.0 (57th)
.908 (19th)	SP	.908 (19th)

Note: National rank in parentheses. Categories are offense (goals per game), defense (goals against per game), power play percentage, penalty kill percentage, faceoff percentage and team save percentage.

UND — F Josh Zakreski doubtful (lower), F Cole Reschny questionable (lower), F David Klee questionable (undisclosed), D Bennett Zmolek questionable (lower)

Miami — F Ethan Hay questionable (lower), F Nicholas Mikan questionable (lower), D Vladislav Lukashevich questionable (upper), D Owen Lalonde out (undisclosed)

It was a challenging fall for Miami freshman forward David Deputy. He arrived in Oxford injured and unable to participate in training camp. He returned in time for the season opener, but suffered another injury in the first period. That one kept him out a month.

Now, he’s finding his stride. Deputy has eight goals in eight games since Christmas. He’s the country’s only goal-per-game player in the new year. This type of production is nothing new. Deputy led the USHL’s Clark Cup playoffs in goal last season (10) in bringing the title to Muskegon.

“Right now, he’s got a lot of confidence going,” Noreen said. “That’s been earned through his growth and development. He’s always been a worker. He’s always been extremely driven. I think he’s taken it to another level here, really wanting to push his game. He’s so intentional with every rep in practice, every workout. He’s earning confidence and it’s showing up in his game.”

Zellers notably grew up a huge UND hockey fan, and he knows plenty about the program’s history. Perhaps it was no surprise that when T.J. Oshie attended a World Junior Championship game in December, Zellers scored a goal and was named Team USA’s best player.

This weekend, Zach Parise will be in the house. He will skate “One More Shift” before Saturday’s game. Zellers grew up in the Twin Cities wearing a UND Parise jersey. You know he will be ready to deliver in front of another one of his childhood idols.

UND needs to find a way to start the game earlier. In the last three games, UND has scored one first-period goal, one second-period goal and nine third-period goals. Perhaps playing at home for the first time in 27 days will give UND a boost against a RedHawks team that’s 7-1-1 when leading after the first period.

Friday: UND 4, Miami 3
Saturday: UND 3, Miami 1

TV: Midco Sports (GF Ch. 27/622 HD). Alex Heinert play by play, Jim Scanlan analyst, Taylor Budge and Monique Lamoureux-Morando at the desk.
Stream: NCHChockey.com/tv.
Radio: The Fox (96.1 FM). Tim Hennessy play by play, Mike LaMoine analyst.

GFH:

Dylan James rewarded for staying for senior season

GFH:

Grandson of UND football player part of Miami’s turnaround

GFH:

Q&A with freshman center Ollie Josephson

GFH:

UND to wear and auction special warmup jerseys

GFH:

Where does the Hobey race stand right now?

GFH:

Injury updates on Cole Reschny, Josh Zakreski and David Klee

CHN:

Ellis Rickwood has been a rock for North Dakota

USCHO:

Bryn Chyzyk key to North Dakota’s recruiting efforts

Scoring
21 Ben Strinden (NSH), sr, f, 14-14—28
29 Ellis Rickwood, sr, f, 7-18—25
17 Cole Reschny (CGY), fr, f, 4-21—25
26 Dylan James (DET), sr, f, 17-7—24
9 Will Zellers (BOS), fr, f, 14-9—23
4 Jake Livanavage, jr, d, 4-19—23
7 Mac Swanson (PIT), so, f, 5-15—20
25 Abram Wiebe (CGY), jr, d, 3-16—19
18 Keaton Verhoeff (2026), fr, d, 6-11—17
15 Jack Kernan, fr, f, 7-5—12
9 Ollie Josephson (SEA), fr, f, 3-9—12
20 Cade Littler (CGY), so, f, 4-7—11
19 Cody Croal, so, f, 6-3—9
27 Anthony Menghini, jr, f, 5-4—9
14 Tyler Young, sr, f, 2-5—7
13 Sam Laurila (NYI), fr, d, 0-7—7
6 E.J. Emery (NYR), so, d, 2-3—5
22 David Klee (SJS), fr, f, 2-3—5
16 Andrew Strathmann (CBJ), so, d, 1-2—3
2 Bennett Zmolek, sr, d, 1-2—3
24 Josh Zakreski, fr, f, 1-2—3
3 Jayden Jubenvill, so, d, 0-2—2
28 Dalton Andrew, so, f, 0-0—0
11 Ian Engel, fr, d, 0-0—0
35 Jan Špunar, fr, g, 0-0—0
31 Gibson Homer, sr, g, 0-0—0
1 Zach Sandy, sr, g, dnp

Goaltending
35 Jan Špunar, fr, 14-3, 1.76, .924
31 Gibson Homer, sr, 7-4, 2.57, .893
1 Zach Sandy, sr, dnp

Scoring
91 Matteo Giampa, jr, f, 9-11—20
13 Kocha Delic, fr, f, 9-11—20
20 David Deputy, fr, f, 14-5—19
17 Maximilion Helgeson, sr, f, 10-9—19
71 Vladislav Lukashevich (FLA), so, d, 2-16—18
33 Casper Nassen (BOS), so, f, 5-12—17
6 Michael Quinn, so, d, 4-13—17
14 Ryan Smith, so, f, 8-8—16
18 Ilia Morozov (2026), fr, f, 7-9—16
19 Doug Grimes, jr, f, 7-8—15
68 Ethan Hay (TBL), fr, f, 3-11—14
11 Justin Stupka, fr, f, 3-5—8
43 Ryder Thompson, fr, d, 1-7—8
21 Bradley Walker, fr, f, 3-3—6
73 Michael Phelan, fr, d, 0-5—5
2 Shaun McEwen, fr, d, 0-4—4
8 John Emmons, so, f, 3-0—3
26 Blake Mesenberg, sr, f, 1-1—2
10 Nicholas Mikan, so, f, 0-2—2
12 Owen Lalonde, sr, d, 0-2—2
9 Kyle Aucoin (DET), 5th, d, 0-1—1
45 Matteo Drobac, so, g, 0-1—1
3 Nick Donato, sr, d, 0-0—0
7 Charlie Michaud, fr, d, 0-0—0
23 Brayden Morrison, 5th, f, 0-0—0
31 Mathis Langevin, fr, g, 0-0—0
81 David Grosek, so, f, dnp
35 Benji Motew, fr, g, dnp

Goaltending
45 Matteo Drobac, 16-9-2, 2.58, .913
31 Mathis Langevin, fr, 1-0, 2.00, .938
35 Benji Motew, fr, dnp