Multi-point games from Owen Gallatin, Kobe Roth, Noah Cates, and Carter Loney pushed No. 2 Minnesota Duluth to a 5-1 win over Alaska Fairbanks on Friday evening in Duluth. The Bulldogs are now 5-0 all-time against the Nanooks and improve to a 9-3-1 overall record on the season.
 
"The key was getting the first goal tonight," said Head Coach Scott Sandelin. "I liked our third period; it was nice to see different guys score. It's a good win, we knew it was going to be a tough win."
 
Blake Biondi, Ben Almquist, Roth, Cates, and Loney all found the back of the net in the victory. Gallatin tallied two assists, while Koby Bender, Quinn Olson, Dominic James, and Connor Kelly all posted one assist on Friday night. Ryan Fanti made his tenth-straight start in net and made ten saves to pick up his eighth win of the season. Fanti entered the weekend top 5 in the nation in both goals against average and saver percentage. 
 
The Bulldogs would get the first solid scoring chance of the game. While in his own zone, Owen Gallatin fed a sauce pass up the left-wing boards to Roth. Roth deflected the puck to the Nanooks blueline where Koby Bender was cutting through. Bender walked in alone on a breakaway but was stopped by Gustavs Grigals. Late in the first, UMD would get a power play opportunity. While on the man-advantage, Roth found Cates on the right-wing half wall. Cates fed a beautiful seem pass to Loney who one-timed the puck off the far post and in. For Loney, the goal is the first of his Bulldog career and gave Duluth a 1-0 lead with just five minutes left to play in the first. UMD would come out and outshoot the Nanooks 16-6 through the first twenty minutes of play and take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. 
 
Seven minutes into the second period, Fairbanks would head to the power play looking to tie the game. While on the man-advantage, Markuss Komuls would find himself wide open on the back door for an easy tap-in goal. The power play goal came 8:49 into the middle frame and tied the game at one. Just a couple minutes later, Fairbanks would use a long shift in the Duluth zone to draw another power play opportunity. Three blocked shots from UMD would kill off the penalty and get the Bulldogs back to full strength. Late in the second period, Duluth would take control for good. While at the left point, Gallatin made a pass to Kelley who was sneaking down the right board. Kelley alertly spotted Cates wide open in the slot. After taking the pass from Kelley, Cates used a beautiful snapshot to beat UAF goaltender Davis Grisgals high blocker side. The goal came with just under two minutes to play in the second, and UMD took a 2-1 lead into the final frame. 
 
Just over three minutes into the third, a faceoff win from Loney was poked free by Bender and would find the stick of a cutting Roth. While navigating through the slot, Roth sent a wrist shot towards the UAF net that was deflected past Danial Allin and in. UMD took the 3-1 lead just 3:41 into the third. Midway through the period, another clean faceoff win would give Biondi an open look. While taking a faceoff in the left corner of the Nanooks zone, James won the draw right to Biondi who beat Allin far side top corner to give the Bulldogs a commanding 4-1 lead 10:53 into the third. After peppering the Fairbanks net, Minnesota Duluth added one more goal with 45 seconds to play. Almquist's second goal of the season extended the lead to 5-1. UMD would outshoot the Nanooks 37-11 in the game and take the win game one.  

Up Next
Minnesota Duluth and Alaska Fairbanks will rematch tomorrow evening in Duluth. Puck drop is set for 6:07 PM from AMSOIL Arena.