If this weekend was a referendum on how the University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team ranks among the nation's heaviest hitters, one thing is clear – the Bulldogs proved they belong.

 

Despite falling just short of a comeback in Saturday's 2-1 loss to the No. 5 University of Denver at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn., the Bulldogs once again pushed a nationally ranked squad until the final horn. UMD is now 4-2 in last six game against top-20 teams, including 3-1 against squads in the top-10.

 

"I thought it was a really good game, I thought we were better for 60 minutes tonight," said UMD head coach Scott Sandelin. "I thought, you know, again, it was great hockey, it was a pretty even hockey game. Both teams had their opportunities both ways, and I thought, you know, both goalies were good. Theirs made a couple of big saves on the power play, Knapper (Klayton Knapp) made saves, I mean it was about as even, in my opinion as a game gets, right? Kind of how it should be played. I think our team continues to grow, and sometimes you don't always grow through wins, but I liked our game tonight." 

 

The opening scoring in the game came with just 43 seconds left in the first period, and it was Denver who scored first on a goal from Samu Salminen.

 

The Pioneers stretched their lead to 2-0 3:09 into the second period on Carter King's 13th of the season, but the Bulldogs cut DU's advantage in half late in the frame.

 

Senior defenseman Owen Gallatin tipped down a shot from the point from Carter Loney at the 15:33 mark to make a 2-1 contest, his fourth of the season and 75th point of his UMD career. The Bulldogs, who outshot the Pioneers 16-10 in the period, left the ice after 40 minutes within striking distance of the defending national champions.

 

But despite UMD's push until the end, it couldn't land the final game-tying goal past DU's Matt Davis, who made 29 saves in the game.

 

Both teams put 30 shots on goal, and Bulldog goaltender Klayton Knapp had 28 stops. Neither team broke through on its power play – the Pioneers with 0-of-1 in their lone attempt in the third period, while UMD was 0-of-3. Denver improved to 18-6-0 and 7-5-0 in the National College Hockey Conference with the win.

 

"Just have to keep going, honestly, this weekend, the way we played, everyone in that locker room, they had fun," said Loney. "It was a battle, we competed, so just staying positive and keeping those vibes going into the bye weekend and just progressing, competing in practice and just taking the next step each and every day,"

 

The Bulldogs (10-13-1, 6-8-0) will take a week off from outside competition before hitting the conference road to Omaha, Nebraska to face the University of Nebraska Omaha on Feb. 7-8.

BULLDOG NOTES: Owen Gallatin;s goal gives him 19 for his career for a total of 75 career points in 140 games … Gallatin is the highest career scoring UMD defenseman since Hobey Baker winner Scott Perunovich registered 105 (20g, 85a) in 115 games with UMD from 2017-2020 … Dominic James skated in career game number 99 for the Bulldogs Saturday night … Gallatin (140) and Carter Loney (133) have skated in more on the current Bulldog roster … both Dominic James and Loney were the lone UMD players to record a point in both games against DU … both players had an assist in each contest.