With a perfect 3-of-3 power play effort, the No. 4 University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team stayed unbeaten on Friday nights this season with a 4-1 trouncing of No. 7 Western Michigan University inside Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich.
The National Collegiate Hockey Conference showdown belonged to the Bulldogs, who scored first and never surrendered the league en route to their ninth-straight Friday triumph and 13th overall win of the season – tying the amount of wins UMD had over the entire season just one year ago.
The scoring started with a Grayden Siepmann redirect on the doorstep for in his third goal of the season. The goal came off a centering pass from Brady Cleveland 12:33 into the first period, a blueliner beauty that gave the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead.
Fast forward to 4:30 of the second period, and on the first power play by either team of the game, Max Plante glided into the low slot and one-timed a pass from Callum Arnott below the extended goal line to double the Bulldogs scoreline.
The defending NCAA champs drew within a goal 2:30 later, but senior forward Scout Truman buried his first of two power play goals at the 13:32 mark, smacking in the jam attempt from Hunter Anderson on the far side of the goal to put UMD up 3-0.
The Truman Show wasn't over, however,, and Truman struck again midway through the third period for his eighth goal of the season and second of the night on the man advantage. Truman skated in from the left circle and beat WMU goaltender Hampton Slukynsky over his glove side to extend the Bulldogs lead to 4-1. It also marked Truman's second two-goal game of the season.
UMD took it to the NCHC's second-ranked penalty kill and went a flawless 3-of-3 on the night while holding the Broncos scoreless on two attempts. Bulldog goaltender Adam Gajan earned his 13th win of the season and made 22 stops in the contest, while Slukynsky had 28 for WMU. UMD outshot the Broncos 30-23, but WMU won 37 faceoffs compared to just 22 by the Bulldogs.
The win leapfrogs UMD over WMU in the NCHC standings 17 points to the Broncos 15. The Bulldogs will wait for a result from the University of Denver's contest against Miami to see if they will stay atop the league for the night or sit on the Pioneers' heels in second place.
UMD (13-4-0, 6-3-0) will play its final road game of the 2025 portion of the season Saturday night in Kalamazoo. The puck is set to drop at 6:00 CST.
BULLDOG NOTES: Multiple players turned in multiple point nights, including Scout Truman's two goals, Max Plante with a goal and an assist, and Kyle Gaffney's first two-point game as a Bulldog with two assists … Aaron Pionk posted his first point of the season, an assist on Truman's second power play goal … Friday was UMD's fifth time scoring two or more power play goals in a game this season and second time logging three or more … Max Plante took back over sole possession of the NCAA point lead with his two points which now gives the sophomore 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points – tying his rookie output … his 14 goals is the second most in the NCAA and his four-game winning goals also puts him in second … Plante has a whopping 1.65 points per game average through his first 17 games of the season.
