Box Score

An early University of Minnesota Duluth lead did little to deter the University of Minnesota Friday night as the top-ranked Gophers struck for three goals in each of the first two periods on their way to a 6-1 victory.

Sophomore left winger Charlie Sampair provided the lone off for the visitors, scoring his first goal as a Bulldog 4:17 into the first period. It came off a rebound and put No. 19 UMD up 1-0.

"I'm happy for him. I thought that line, in the last three games has been outstanding," said UMD coach Scott Sandelin, referencing the trio of Sampair, sophomore center Cal Decowski and rookie right winger Sammy Spurrell. "I thought they played well in Grand Forks last weekend as well.  Spurrell got a goal there. I thought they were our best line tonight, and it's nice to have those guys chip in for us."

Dominic Tonianato set an optimistic tone less than two minutes into the game, forcing Gophers goalie Adam Wilcox to make a big save on the freshman center's solo rush to the net. Minnesota killed off a Bulldog power play, but not long after the teams were back to five-on-five, Sampair picked an opportune time for his first collegiate goal.

"I thought in the first 10 minutes we came out and did what we needed to do," Sandelin said. "They're a good transition team and you have to kind of make it tough for them. But we forgot that there was another part of the game to play. They're good, and good teams capitalize."

But the Gophers (9-1-1 overall)  answered back with a vengeance before the period was over, rallying to take a 3-1 lead via a trio of goals in quick succession by A.J. Michaelson, Tom Serratore and Justin Kloos. Shots were even at 15-15 after 20 minutes.

Minnesota, which is 4-0-1 in the last five meetings with its former Western Collegiate Hockey Association rival, added three more in the second period, to put the game away.

Senior goaltender Aaron Crandall (4-4-0), making his eighth straight start,  finished with 22 saves for the Bulldogs . With just under four minutes to go in the second period, he was lifted in favor of Matt McNeely, who came in cold with the Gophers on a power play. Gopher defenseman Michael Brodzinski promptly scored on the first shot sent McNeely's way, making it 6-1 at the second intermission

There was no scoring in the final period, in which McNeely stopped all five Gophers shots. Wilcox, the cousin of former UMD star goaltender Alex Stalock, made a career-high 36 saves. Wilcox also helped keep UMD off the board on all seven of its power plays.

"UMD is a good team and they have good starts. That's kind of what they're known for," Wilcox said. "They got a goal right away on a tough bounce. I didn't really see it and it went off me. After that I thought we responded really well."

It was the first non-conference game between the Gophers and Bulldogs since February 1965. The two clubs will complete the two-game series on Sunday at 4:07 p.m. in Minneapolis.

by Jess Myers