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Special teams proved to be just that -- special -- for the University of Minnesota Duluth Friday night at AMSOIL Arena.

The Bulldogs scored three times on the power play and once while a man down in a 5-0 takedown of Western Michigan University in the opener of the best-of-three National Collegiate Hockey Conference quarterfinal playoff series. Sophomore Hunter Shepard added to his school record by posting his seventh shutout of the season -- and third against the Broncos -- with a a 24-save performance.

No. 8 UMD, which has now won six of its last seven games, got first-period power play goals from senior left winger Avery Peterson and sophomore left winger Riley Tufte, and then made it 3-0 at 3:34 of the second period when freshman defenseman Scott Perunovich banged in a rebound. A little over a minute later and with UMD on the power play, junior center Peter Krieger took a pass from Perunovich and a buried a shot from between the faceoff circles. That gave Perunovich 34 points on the year, a Bulldog single-season record for a rookie defenseman (the old mark was set by Justin Faulk in 2010-11).

Senior left winger Blake Young capped off the scoring with his first collegiate shorthanded goal with 2:06 to go in regulation.

"Our power play was a big reason we won tonight," said UMD head coach Scott Sandelin, whose club went a sizzling 3-for-6 in that department. "When you get to this time of the year, special teams becomes so important."

The third-seeded Bulldogs (20-14-3 overall) will look to punch their ticket to a third consecutive NCHC Frozen Faceoff tomorrow when they and the sixth-seeded Broncos (15-18-2) meet again.