A 30-save performance from
Ryan Fanti helped the No. 6 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs to a 2-2 tie with the No. 10 St. Cloud State Huskies on Tuesday evening in St. Cloud, Minn. The Bulldogs picked up a point in the NCHC with St. Cloud taking the extra point via. their win in the shooutout.
On the night,
Tanner Laderoute and
Quinn Olson each buried goals for UMD. Laderoute netted his seven of the season, while Olson picked up his sixth goal of the season. Junior goaltender Fanti got the start for UMD and made 30 saves off 32 St. Cloud shots. Fanti's night included a series of impressive saves in the third period to get UMD a tough point on the road.
Each side would get a power-play opportunity within the first ten minutes. UMD wasn't able to produce any quality chances with it's man-advantage. During SCSU's power-play, the Huskies were able to get a clean look from the slot. However, a beautiful block-shot from
Owen Gallatin eliminated the opportunity and the Bulldogs would successfully kill of their penalty. With just over four minutes remaining in the first, an offensive zone penalty from SCSU gave UMD another chance on the power-play. After working the puck around the Huskies zone, Kaiser would feed Bender for an open one-timer in the right faceoff circle. Bender's shot would be deflected by Laderoute and beat SCSU goaltender David Hrenak to the glove side. The power-play tally and Laderoute's seventh goal of the season gave UMD a 1-0 lead after one period of play.
A prime scoring opportunity would come to the Huskies six minutes into the second. A back-door pass to SCSU's Spencer Meier would be blocked nicely by a sprawling
Matt Anderson. A few minutes later,
Dominic James would block a shot and get a short-handed breakaway chance. James made a move to the backhand but was shutdown by Hrenak. Moments later, Loheit would spring Olson for a breakaway chance of his own. Olson used a quick wrist shot low-glove side to beat Hrenak and extend UMD's lead to 2-0 midway through the period. The Bulldogs kept up the pressure. A St. Cloud defensive zone turnover led to a 2-on-0 in front of the Huskies net for Bender and
Kobe Roth. Roth slid a pass to Bender on the side of the net, but an incredible save by Hrenak would keep it a two-goal game. Both sides would trade chances through the late portion of the period but UMD would take a 2-0 lead and 22-15 shot advantage to the third period.
Just 2:51 into the third period, a UMD neutral zone turnover would lead to St. Cloud's first goal of the night. Huskies defenseman Seamus Donohue finished off a perfect 3-on-2 as he beat Fanti high-glove to cut the Bulldogs lead to 2-1. Off the ensuing faceoff, SCSU forward Zach Okabe would hit the post behind Fanti. Fortunately for UMD, the puck bounced away from danger. The Huskies would keep up the pressure, forcing Fanti to make a series of saves off the rush. With just over ten minutes remaining, Fanti would make an impressive shoulder save off of SCSU 2-on-2, keeing the game at 2-1 UMD. The Bulldogs would get another power-play opportunity with 6:16 remaining in the third, after Laderoute was hauled down while making a move to the net. UMD would fail with the man-advantage but two valuable minutes would tick off the clock. With 59 seconds left to play and with an empty net, the Huskies would tie the game. The teams would head to overtime, shots tied 26-26. Each side noted chances in the 3-on-3 overtime session, including a series of slick moves from
Casey Gilling. However, the overtime ended without a goal, sending the game to a shootout.
Up Next
UMD will stay on the road as they head to Denver for a two-game series with the Pioneers this weekend.
