Less than 22 seconds away from a shutout Friday night, the No. 9/8 University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team locked it down defensively Saturday night in Bemidji, Minn. and preserved its second shutout of the season, a 3-0 win against Bemidji State University at the Sanford Center.
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While Carl Axelsson made 22 saves on the 22 shots he faced, it was the offense of junior defenseman Ty Hanson which netted two goals for the Bulldog, running his total to three goals on the weekend against the Beavers.
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After a scoreless first period, Hanson broke through on UMD's power play and walked in from the blueline at 9:32 to put the Bulldogs up 1-0.
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Hanson made it a 2-0 UMD lead at the 17:15 mark on a slapper from above the left circle, his third game of the series. The goal came off a Jayson Shaugaby feed, his second assist of the game and also the junior forward's third assist of the weekend.
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BSU pulled goaltender Max Hildebrand with 3:45 left in the third period, and with 1:53 remaining, Zam Plante made the home team pay with a wrist shot from the center logo to ice the game at 3-0. The goal also doubled as Plante's second on the weekend.
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UMD outshot the Beavers 30-22 and rang up the lone power play goal of both the game and series between either team. BSU was 0-of-2 on the night – the Bulldogs 1-of-2. Max Hildebrand had 27 stops for the Beavers, who fall to 1-4-0 on the season.
Saturday was Axelsson's second shutout in just six career games, and the rookie netminder remains undefeated with a record of 4-0-2. Axelsson is tied for the NCAA's shutout lead and is just one of four unbeaten goaltenders in the nation that have played four or more games so far this season.
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The Bulldogs (5-1-2) will enter National Collegiate Hockey Conference play next weekend when they travel to Colorado Springs, Colo. to face Colorado College. The Friday-Saturday series will get underway at 8:00 p.m. CST Friday.
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BULLDOG NOTES: Ty Hanson now sits second in all of the NCAA with seven goals this season … his 11th total points is also tied for fourth … Jayson Shaugabay is tied for the most assists in the NCAA with 11 … the current center is averaging 1.30 assists a game … Shaugabay also now has 14 points in six career games against BSU (6g, 8a) … Zam Plante sits right behind him with 13 (6g, 7a) … Carl Axelsson now joins former UMD goaltender Hunter Miska as the last netminder to have two shutouts in his first six starts and be unbeaten over six first starts … Miska had two shutouts in five games in 2016-17.
