Northern Michigan cashed  in on its fourth – and  final -- power play opportunity of the night  and then held on for a 4-3 non-conference home victory over the University of  Minnesota Duluth.
 
Robbie Payne's man advantage goal with 4:46 to go in regulation stood up as the game stood up as the game winner as the Wildcats (10-9-6 overall) prevailed for just the second time in its last nine meetings with UMD (8-11-5).
 
After going into the first intermission knotted at 0-0, two former Western Collegiate Hockey Association rivals combined for four goals in the second period. Junior center Dominic Toninato and freshman left winger Adam Johnson  sandwiched a pair of  scores 2:43 apart around two Northern Michigan tallies. Toninato's goal – his ninth of the season – came off a rebound following a shot from senior defenseman Andy Welinski  while Johnson took a nifty centering feed from Thomas and ripped in a shot near the edge of the goal crease.  Welinski put the Bulldogs up 3-2 at 1:33 of the third period when his hard wrister from the slot beat Northern Michigan goaltender Atte Tolvanen, but Brock Maschmeyer countered for the Wildcats just 46 seconds later.
 
For the 21^st time in 20 games this season, UMD outshot the opposition, finishing with a 39-28 advantage in that department. Sophomore Kasimir Kaskisuo, who took a rare night off last Saturday (he had started the previous 34 outings) made 24 saves while Tolvanen, a fellow Finland native, had 36 stops.
 
UMD went scoreless in four power play chances (included an abbreviated one with its goaltender pulled in the final 29 seconds of the third period) and its now 0-for-29 with the man advantage over the past nine games.
 
"Obviously, there is a lot of disappointment in that locker room," said UMD head coach Scott Sandelin, whose Bulldogs are 0-4-1 in their last five games.  "But we've got to keep battling and keep fighting because it's all you can do to get through this."
 
The two teams will meet again Saturday at 6:07 p.m. at the Berry Events Center.