UND vs. WMU Game 4

Per UND, senior forward Colten St. Clair in for freshman forward Joel Janatuinen. On defense, Christian Wolanin takes Hayden Shaw's place in the lineup. Tonight's game is on FCS.

Reminder that tonight's game is on MidcoSN2, not MidcoSN. Also available on FCS Atlantic, DirecTV and DISH Network. Consult local listings.

— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) March 5, 2016

UND Beats WMU 2-1 (Video)

Imagine playing without three of your top six forwards. Tonight, that's exactly what happened. UND swept Western Michigan minus Chris Wilkie, Drake Caggiula and Nick Schmaltz. With the win, UND improves to (22-3-3, 13-2-1 NCHC).

I would say, look at it this way, there was a lot of points missing from the lineup. UND bore down and got the much-needed sweep to propel to the top of the NCHC standings. UND now leads St. Cloud State by three points.

The remaining "B" from the CBS line was scored three goals and an assist this weekend.Boeser is now UND’s leading scorer with (18g-13a—31pts). Boeser is also third in the nation for points per game by a rookie with 1.19.

UND junior goalie Cam Johnson improved to (13-1-1, 1.34 GAA, .948 save percentage). Johnson leads the nation in GAA and in save percentage.

UND leads the nation in wins and is second in GAPG with 1.68.

UND vs. WMU - Game 2

North Dakota Fighting Hawks Forward Lines
29 Bryn Chyzyk (A)–27 Luke Johnson–14 Austin Poganski
25 Joel Janatuinen–22 Rhett Gardner–16 Brock Boeser
19 Shane Gersich–10 Johnny Simonson–17 Colten St. Clair (A)
24 Christian Wolanin–26 Coltyn Sanderson–111 Trevor Olson

North Dakota Defense Pairings
20 Gage Ausmus (C)–2 Troy Stecher (A)
4 Keaton Thompson–6 Paul LaDue (A)
28 Hayden Shaw–3 Tucker Poolman

North Dakota Goalies
33 Cam Johnson
30 Matt Hrynkiw
(Official Stats)

Western Michigan Broncos Forward Lines
21 Kyle Novak–8 Sheldon Dries (C)–16 Nolan LaPorte
17 Griffen Molino–29 Colt Conrad–14 Jade McMullen
19 Frederik Tiffels–26 Michael Rebry–12 Aidan Muir
7 Matheson Iacopelli–26 Willem Nong-Lambert–23 Aaron Hadley

Western Michigan Defense Pairings
9 Chris Dienes–20 Taylor Fleming
13 Neal Goff–15 Scott Moldenhauer
6 Corey Schueneman–18 Oliver Kaski

Western Michigan Goalies
55 Lukas Hafner
35 Trevor Gorsuch
(Official Stats)

Tonight, there are no changed for the Western Michigan Broncos. For UND, freshman forward Mike Gornall is out of the lineup and freshman forward Rhett Gardner is back in the lineup after being flown in on Friday. Gornal has been sick this week. For those that have DirecTV sports pack, tonight's game will be on 681-1 Altitude.

WMU No Goal

WMU no goal pic.twitter.com/rYqdNAiMXI

— James Lambert (@rivermen123) January 30, 2016

Tonight, the Western Michigan Broncos were convinced that they had scored a goal and requested that the on-ice officials review the play. Fair enough, that happens.

Moving right along, the on-ice officials reviewed the play in question and spent something like 7-8 minutes reviewing a play that was obviously not a goal. It didn't cross the line. What were the on-ice officials looking for? UND radio play-by-play announcer said he saw the play once and knew that it wasn't a goal.

I know, it's easy to bag on the officials, they're human, they make mistakes. But if you can review something for a few minutes and not see a good goal, there's no need to spend any more time staring at a screen trying to glean if there was a goal scored. It's not there. Personally, I think there are too many reviews in the NCHC now.

Game 1: UND vs. WMU (UND Missing 2-of-3 CBS Line)

Tonight, UND will be without Rhett Gardner, Nick Schmaltz, Drake Caggiula and Chris Wilkie. Three of UND's top goal scorers are out of the game tonight. Tonight, UND gets DShep and Timm "Quick Whistle" Walsh.

Looking Ahead: UND vs. WMU https://t.co/wTLCGMKTlu #THW

— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) January 29, 2016

UND vs. WMU - Game Two Lines

No changes from last night's lineup. From today's NCHC press release: With a 3-1 win at Western Michigan Friday night, top-ranked North Dakota moved into sole possession of first place in the NCHC after No. 6/6 Miami and No. 5/5 Omaha both fell as the three entered the weekend tied for first. UND also extended its unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-1) and improved to 9-3-0 on the road this season with its .750 road win percentage fourth nationally and first in the NCHC. UND is now 8-6-1 on Fridays this year but an NCAA-best 13-0-2 on Saturdays (.933).

UND vs. WMU (UND goals, and scrum)

The University of North Dakota with another solid win tonight. UND looked pretty good on the road on Friday night. That's two wins in a row on Friday night. With the win, UND improves to 8-6-1 on Friday nights.

UND will go for the sweep tomorrow night. UND is 13-0-2 on Saturday nights. Junior forward Drake Caggiula scored an absolutely filthy goal tonight. That ended up being the game-winning goal tonight.

Finally, UND benefitted from a blown call on the third goal. Steph Pattyn tripped a Western player in the UND goalmouth and UND defenseman Troy Stecher went up the ice and scored a nice goal.

Western Michigan head coach Andy Murray really went off on the officials after the UND goal. Edit:  On second look, it looks like the trip might have directly caused the play that led to the goal.

(Official Box Score)

"Our team’s got a short memory. If something doesn’t go our way, it’s a "‘next shift" mentality. That’s a pretty good trait." - Dave Hakstol
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) February 21, 2015

Western Michigan no-goal

At the 16:13 mark of the second period, WMU thought they had scored the game-tying goal. They didn't. After a two-minute plus review, the refs ruled correctly, that the puck never crossed the goal line. Apparently, Western Michigan doesn't have the an overhead camera behind the goal.

UND vs. WMU game one Lines

WMU Injuries Nolan LaPorte (9g-11a—20pts) lower-body injury. Checking the Broncos lines he's in tonight. Must have made a speedy recovery. We'll have to watch that. Same lineup for UND as last week.

A quick look at the regionals... Goon's Pontifications….

I was asked to provide my picks for this weekend’s regionals. I will take a look at the Frozen Four next weekend after all of the dust settles on the tourney.

Last weekend I went a perfect 5-0 and picked the Red Baron WCHA Final Five to a “T” but every dog has its day right. I don’t see that happening this weekend, because along the way stuff happens and picks get blown up, teams win that you don’t expect to win.

Northeast Regional

(1) Boston College
(4) Air Force
(2) MN-Duluth
(3) Maine

In the Northeast Regional; this is the region of death for the 2012 NCAA regionals. I also want to say, sorry Bulldog fans, I don’t see anyone beating Boston College this weekend; they are one of the best teams that I have seen play this season. That being said, I am willing to be proved wrong and would relish watching B.C. Eagles lose.

The Eagles are the fourth ranked defense and they are going to be hard to get past. Patrick Milner has been decent in goal for the Eagles and I also believe that Bulldogs senior goalie Kenny Reiter is the weak link on the Bulldogs hockey team. I thought that the UMD Bulldogs looked fast up front through the forward lines in the five games that I saw them play this season but I think goaltending and defense for the Bulldogs are going to have to be flawless to beat the Eagles.

I also think the Boston College Eagles are "probably" the best team in college hockey right now. The Boston College Eagles also come into the Northeast Regional on a roll, as they have won 15 games in a row.


West Regional

(2) Minnesota
(3) Boston University
(4) Western Michigan
(1) North Dakota

I am picking North Dakota to win the West Regional, big shock right? I am also still waiting for Dave from the Minneapolis Metro area to congratulate me for picking “the whole” WCHA Final Five correctly. Dave is the Gophers fan that called me a homer because I picked North Dakota to win the Red Barron WCHA Final Five. Hum!!! I guess I am wrong for not drinking the Gophers Kool-Aide. I have to give the Minnesota Gophers credit; they did play well for 31 minutes in last Friday’s game before the Sioux buried them.

Personally, I never bet against a team that is coached by Dave Hakstol. That being said, I also think that this is a pick-em regional and a bit of a crap shoot and anything could happen in this regional, nothing would surprise me one bit.

I also wouldn’t be surprised one bit if BU and WMU played for the regional championship Sunday. After reading the chat that Roman Augustoviz, (the beat writer for the Minneapolis Star and Tribune), had on his blog yesterday I found it funny that Gophers fans were looking past Boston University. I guess they don’t see any way that the Terriers beat them.

Trivia courtesy of Roman, UND Head Coach Dave Hakstol is 5-4 against the Gophers in the NCAA and WCHA playoffs.

2004: Gophers beat North Dakota 5-4 in Final Five championship game ... both advanced to NCAAs

2005: North Dakota beats Gophers 4-2 in Final Five championship game and 4-2 in Frozen Four semifinals in Columbus, Ohio ... Gophers' season over

2007 Gophers beat North Dakota 3-2 in overtime in Final Five championship game, but lose 2-3 in overtime in West Regional final in Denver ... Gophers' season over

2010: North Dakota beats Gophers 6-0, 2-4, 4-1 in first round of the WCHA playoffs ... Gophers' season over

East Regional

(1) Union
(4) Michigan State
(2) Miami
(3) Mass.-Lowell

I am probably going to get a bit of heat from Joe “Gladdy” Gladziszewski from Inside College Hockey, but this season will be no different than the others past, there is another ECAC team that is a number one seed. There will be another number one seed from the ECAC eliminated by the end of the weekend. Sorry, but I don’t see anyone getting past the Miami University RedHawks in this regional. The Miami RedHawks have righted the ship after a rough start at the beginning of the season. The Miami RedHawks have won 9/10 games since being swept by the Michigan Wolverines back on February 4th, 2012.

Midwest Regional

(2) Ferris State
(3) Denver
(4) Cornell
(1) Michigan

I believe that this is Michigan’s regional to win. Having watched Michigan play in a few games on national television this season and after watching them sweep Miami earlier this season I am convinced they’re the second best team in the NCAA Field. That being said, nothing would please me more than watching the Michigan Wolverines lose but also watching Shawn Hunwick get lit up in the Midwest Regional Denver or Ferris State.

FSN to Broadcast Saturday's game against WMU

I don't think there was a doubt, at least not in my mind. That means if you have Midco or a cable provider that gets FSN or you have DirecTV you will be able to watch the game this weekend. I imagine that you may also be able to watch the game on FCS as well. As soon as I get confirmation on that I will pass it along.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - North Dakota's NCAA West Region semifinal game against Western Michigan on Saturday, March 24, from the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul will be televised live by FOX Sports North (channel 28 and 623 HD in Grand Forks).

The broadcast will begin at 12:30 p.m. Central and the puck drops at 12:34. Veteran hockey broadcasters Clay Matvick and Dave Starman will call the action.

UND (25-12-3) is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA West Regional, while Western Michigan (21-13-6) is the No. 4 seed. The other regional semifinal features No. 2 seed and host Minnesota against No. 3 seed Boston University.

The fourth-ranked Fighting Sioux have won seven straight games and won their league-record third straight WCHA Final Five championship last Saturday in Saint Paul.

The NCAA Regional Pairings are set

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