On an emotional night where the University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team honored the legacy of Adam Johnson, the Bulldogs fell just short of knocking off No. 9 Western Michigan University Saturday night at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn.

The Broncos used their power play to push past UMD 4-1 in a National College Hockey Conference series that left the Bulldogs still in search of its first home conference win.

Both sides were deadlocked until midway through the second period when rookie blueliner Ty Hanson finally broke through. After a scrum in front of the net resulted in the puck trickling out to the high slot, Hanson found his way to the twine the second time this season to give the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead at 12:25.

UMD's lead didn't reach the end of the frame, however. After Carter Loney was called for a five minute major and game misconduct at 13:55, the Broncos struck twice 1:29 apart to grab a 2-1 advantage into the second intermission, a momentum altering end to the period.

"I thought the major was a turning point in the game," said head coach Scott Sandelin. "I thought in the first period, Adam (Gajan) was really good, that game could have gotten away early and he kept us in it. I thought once we got the goal we started to play better, even before the goal I think we started getting our feet moving, but again, we nullify it with the penalty. They got a couple goals and I just didn't think we responsed very well in the third after that."

The Bulldogs went on their power play 29 seconds into the third period, but it was the Broncos that would strike again at the 5:54 mark to go ahead 3-1. WMU added a fourth goal at 15:17, condemning UMD to a 2-7 record at home for the 2024 portion of the season.

"I think we were playing well throughout the whole weekend, I don't think the games really showed how we played, and for me, that's exciting," said captain Dominic James. "You always say the moral victory, but we can't continue to have them. For a group like this that's so good, and for me, seeing it, this is my fourth year here, this is a good hockey team that can't get used to losing."

Gajan had 32 saves for the Bulldogs, who were just outshot 36-33 in the game despite out-shelling the Broncos in both the second (14-12) and third (13-9) frames. While UMD went 0-of-4 on its power play, WMU was 2-of-6 on its power play and got 32 saves from goaltender Hampton Slukynsky. The Broncos improve to 8-1-1 overall and 5-0-1 in the NCHC.

The Bulldogs (5-8-0, 2-4-0) will have the holiday weekend off from outside competition before putting the wraps on the 2024 portion of their season when they travel to Tempe, Arizona to face Arizona State University on Dec. 6-7.