Back on the ice for the first time in over three weeks, the University of Minnesota Duluth overcame a 1-0 second-period deficit by scoring the final four goals of the afternoon en route to throttling Merrimack College 4-1 Sunday in North Andover, Mass.

Four different Bulldogs scored in the non-conference victory, including sophomore right winger Cole Koepke and his linemate, junior center Justin Richards, who each added an assist as UMD hiked its overall record to 10-6-1. The  No. 10 Bulldogs, in their first activity since Dec. 7, have now won four straight road games and are 4-5-0 against non-conference competition this season.

UMD came out firing -- literally -- as it outshot the Warriors 16-1 in the opening period but had nothing to show for it. Merrimack (4-12-2 overall) broke a scoreless deadlock with a power play goal at 4:46 of the second period, but it was all UMD after that. Three minutes later and with the Bulldogs down a man, Koepke sniped in a shot from the slot for his first career shortie and seventh tally of the season (equaling his entire freshman year harvest). Then, with 3:40 to go in that same period, sophomore right winger Tanner Laderoute chipped in a puck that ricocheted off the end boards and onto the stick of junior left winger Kobe Roth, who stuffed it past Warrior netminder Troy Kobryn to put UMD for good. The Bulldogs added some insurance in the third period with a power play goal from sophomore center Jackson Cates (at 2:35) and an even strength score from junior center Justin Richards, who drove to the net on a 3-on-2 rush and backhanded in a shot with 3:30 remaining. Koepke, with points now in 10 of the past 11 games, was credited with the secondary assist on Richard's tally.

 All-American senior goaltender Hunter Shepard, making his 98th consecutive start, registered 24 saves for UMD, which outshot Merrimack 38-25 on the afternoon. The Bulldogs, sporting the nation's fourth most efficient power play, went 1-for-3 with the man advantage while the Warriors were 1-for-5.

The two teams will collide again in a rare Monday matinee (3 p.m. CT) in the final non-conference assignment of the year for UMD. 

NOTES: Rookie center Ben Almquist, who joined the Bulldogs this past week fresh off a rewarding half season with the North American Hockey League's Austin Bruins, made his collegiate debut Sunday ... Associate Head Coach Jason Herter is taking the place of his boss, Scott Sandelin, this weekend while the veteran UMD head coach serves in that same capacity with the U.S. at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic ... Senior defenseman Nick Wolff put a game-high and career-best eight shots on target against Merrimack ... The one shot the Bulldogs allowed in the opening 20 minutes was one shy of the school single-period record set against Air Force (also in the first period) in the 2018 NCAA West Regional championship ... Two-time All-American junior defenseman Scott Perunovich picked up one assist Sunday, giving him 20 on the season -- the second most of any NCAA I skater in the country ... UMD has scored a nation-leading 51.0 percent of its goals in the third period thus far (26 of 51).