Exhibition game or not, Friday night's victory over Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, was certainly an encouraging start to 2015 for the University of Minnesota Duluth -- especially considering how the Bulldogs got it done.

Junior defenseman Andy Welinski scored with just 0.6 seconds remaining in overtime to cap off a 3-2 comeback win in UMD's first visit to Canada in over half a century. Welinski and rookie right winger Karson Kuhlman each had a goal and an assist for the Bulldogs, who are now 13-0-0 lifetime against the Thunderwolves and 34-3-2 versus Canadian universities.

Following a scoreless first period in which UMD held a 17-5 shot advantage, Lakehead drew first blood on Mike Hammond's breakaway goal at 8:27 of the second. That goal held up until Kuhlman scored while being hauled down 4:19 into the third period before the Thunderwolves (7-12-4 overall) regained the lead four minutes later on the power play. It took the Bulldogs, making their first appearance in Canada since Dec. 26, 1964, only 69 seconds to answer with a man advantage tally of their own with junior left winger Austin Farley providing the service with 10:20 left in the third period.

Thunder Bay goaltender Jeff Bosch, who turned aside 57 of 60 shots back on Oct. 6 of this year in a 4-2 loss to the Bulldogs at AMSOIL Arena, finished with 48 saves while Bulldog rookie Kasimir Kaskisuo had 26 stops.

The two teams will meet again Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens.