Prior to Friday night, the University of Minnesota Duluth had not lost to a Canadian University since the University of Alberta prevailed 8-5 back on Dec. 15, 1989.

Those same Golden Bears ended that 28-year slump by striking for three unanswered goals in a span of just under four minutes midway through the third period on their way to a 4-3 exhibition game triumph over the Bulldogs at AMSOIL Arena.

All 27 rostered Bulldogs took shifts in the game, including 11 who did so for the first time in a UMD uniform. That included rookie defensemen Dylan Samberg, who opened the scoring with a goal 52 seconds, and Scott Perunovich, whose snipe from the low slot on a 5-on-3 power play gave UMD a 3-1 lead midway through the second period. Sophomore Riley Tufte accounted for the Bulldogs' other goal which came off a rebound while UMD was a man up at 6:11 of the second.

The game featured an abundance of penalties (the two teams combined for 23 infractions for 60 minutes) and that resulted in plenty of power play opportunities (UMD was 2-for-9 while Alberta went 1-for-10. UMD's three goaltenders each played a period with sophomore Nick Deery allowing one goal on seven shots in the first, sophomore Hunter Shepard turning aside all 10 shots he faced in the second and freshman Ben Patt giving up three goals on 12 shots the rest of the way.

"I thought this was a good starting point against a good team," said Scott Sandelin, who is 19-3-0 in 22 lifetime exhibition games during his 18 seasons as UMD's head coach. "I knew it was going to be a test and it certainly was."