It may have only been an exhibition game for the No. 18 University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team Sunday at AMSOIL Arena, but once the offensive found a spark, it ignited.

The Bulldogs overwhelmed the University of Manitoba 7-2 behind a barrage of five second period tallies, led by the two goals and three total points from senior captain Dominic James. James had a three point effort, while sophomore blueliner Aaron Pionk also added three points (1g, 2a). In all, six different players logged goals, while 14 players registered at least a point in the skate.

The Bison netted the only goal of the first period, but it took just 42 seconds into the second for junior winger Kyle Bettens to slip the puck past Manitoba goaltender Braden Holt and knot the game up at 1-1. From there UMD rolled, with two goals less than a minute apart from a James blast on the power play at 6:20, followed by rookie forward Harper Bentz's unofficial first goal as a Bulldog just 52 seconds later. Jack Smith made it a 4-1 contest at 11:28, and James bookended the offensive outburst with his second power play goal of the frame at 15:10.

Aaron Pionk stretched UMD's advantage to 6-1 with a shot from the point 3:48 into the third period, while sophomore winger Anthony Menghini netted his own goal at the 7:32 mark to bring the Bulldogs goal haul to seven on the afternoon.

Two freshman goaltenders made their UMD debuts in net – Adam Gajan made 15 saves over two periods of action, while Klayton Knapp stopped eight of the nine shots he faced. Holt had 54 saves in net for the Bison, who were outshot 61-25 in the game and scoreless on one power play attempt. The Bulldogs, led by James, went 2-of-5 with an extra skater, UMD's third power play goal on the weekend in nine total attempts.

In addition to Pionk and James, three players registered multiple point nights, including Bettens (1g, 1a), Bentz (1g, 1a) and Joey Pierce (2a).

UMD (0-1-0) will head out east next weekend to face the University of Massachusetts Lowell in another non conference series. The Friday-Saturday series gets underway at the Tsongas Center at 6:15 p.m. CT and Saturday at 5:05 p.m.

BULLDOG NOTES: Senior defenseman Will Francis returned to the UMD lineup for the first time in 10 months ... UMD was without the services of freshman forward Max Plante, who was injured Saturday night and is out indefinitely ... the entire Bulldog roster saw action over the course of both games played on the weekend.