The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs came out victorious 3-2 in the series opener against the Miami Redhawks. The Bulldogs improve to a 14-16-1 overall record, 9-12-0 in NCHC play, and 10-8 at home. 

Scoring for one goal each tonight was Luke Loheit, Darian Gotz, and Owen Gallatin. Five Bulldogs also notched one assist including Wyatt Kaiser, Jesse Jacques, Quinn Olson, Dominic James, and Kyle Bettens. Matthew Thiessen made 36 saves tonight, just one shy of tying his career high. 

The Bulldogs came out of the gates fast and strong. After holding the puck in the offensive zone for a solid chunk of time at the start of the period, they took their first penalty but successfully killed it off. With the momentum boost after the penalty kill, the Bulldogs struck first. After James carried the puck into the offensive zone he connected with Kaiser in front of the net. On Kaiser's rebound Loheit found the puck at the top of the crease and netted the first goal. Later in the period Gotz fired a shot from the top of the faceoff circle that went through the traffic and into the net. UMD finished the period leading shots 17-9 and held a solid 2-0 lead. 

Just 5:40 into the second period the Bulldogs struck again. Olson made a play on the left side of the ice to get the puck to Gallatin. Gallatin then carried the puck around the top of the crease to the right side where he pushed it past the goalie skate and into the net. After their third unanswered goal, UMD went on back-to-back penalty kills but killed them off to end the period with a 3 goal lead. The period ended with shots on goal 14-9 in the Bulldogs favor. 

UMD went into the period with 1:15 remaining on a power play that came at the end of the second. Just two seconds after the play was back to five-on-five, UMD took a penalty for too many men on the ice. However, Miami was called a penalty 13 seconds into their power play to make it four-on-four. Shortly after the teams were back to full strength, Miami scored two goals in under two minutes and closed UMD's lead to one. The Bulldogs were called for a major penalty and faced with a five minute penalty kill. After killing it off and only allowing five shots on goal, the Bulldogs found another momentum boost to hold their lead through the end of the third. At the end of the game UMD went 5-5 on the penalty kill, shots were tied 38-38, and UMD came out victorious 3-2. 

UP NEXT Minnesota Duluth will be back tomorrow night for their final home game of the season for another round against the Miami Redhawks. The puck will drop at AMSOIL Arena at 8:37 p.m.