The University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team faced No. 4/5 University of North Dakota for the first game in an away series, but was unable to break through offensively. UND shut out UMD 6-0.

The Fighting Hawks scored three times in the first period, twice in the second, and then again in the third. 

After a slow first half, the Bulldogs began to pick up their offensive play. Freshman Matthew Perkins had UMD's first solid scoring chance. After breaking the puck of the defensive zone, a second rush from Perkins got him a shot in close. 

The Bulldogs outshot UND in the third period, 9-7, tacking on a few more scoring chances. Overall, Luke Bast led UMD in shots tonight with five against his former team. 

Senior Blake Biondi had a chance of his own, after moving up to the first line tonight. Aaron Pionk skated into the zone and took a shot from the blue line, which rebounded to Biondi's stick just outside the goal crease. It took a full-body sliding save from the Fighting Hawks netminder to keep Biondi at bay. 

A minute later, UND was called for interference. The Bulldog power play had been quiet earlier in the game, but in the second half of this man advantage they had several chances. Biondi sent a shot in from between the circles, which was quickly cycled to Ben Steeves for a slap shot. On UMD's next rush, Steeves got the puck to the front of the net again, but his linemate was too tied up to grab the rebound. 

Although the Bulldogs trailed in shots, the Fighting Hawks were forced into making 16 blocks. Defensemen Darian Gotz and Joey Pierce led UMD with 3 blocks each at the other end.

In the National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings, UMD remains in seventh place. The Bulldogs are five points behind Omaha in sixth. 

UMD returns tomorrow, Saturday, February 24, to take on conference-leading UND once again. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:07 p.m.