U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game
Who: UND vs. Minnesota, 9:07 p.m. Central, 7:07 p.m. Pacific.
Where: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas.
TV: Midco Sports Network (GF Ch. 27/622 HD).
Radio: The Fox (96.1 FM).
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Webcast: NCHC.tv.
Live blog: undhockey.areavoices.com.
TEAM STATS
UND
Scoring
26 Cole Smith jr f 2-2--4
8 Nick Jones sr f 0-4--4
2 Gabe Bast so d 2-1--3
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3 Matt Kiersted so d 1-2--3
29 Jordan Kawaguchi so f 0-3--3
16 Grant Mismash so f 2-0--2
24 J Bernard-Docker fr d 0-2--2
18 Collin Adams so f 1-0--1
27 Ludvig Hoff jr f 1-0--1
7 Zach Yon jr f 1-0--1
10 Gavin Hain fr f 0-1--1
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19 Mark Senden fr f 0-1--1
6 Colton Poolman jr d 0-0--0
22 Rhett Gardner sr f 0-0--0
14 Jasper Weatherby fr f 0-0--0
25 Joel Janatuinen sr f 0-0--0
28 Hayden Shaw sr d 0-0--0
17 Jonny Tychonick fr d 0-0--0
5 Casey Johnson jr d 0-0--0
4 Andrew Peski jr d 0-0--0
9 Dixon Bowen jr f 0-0--0
20 Josh Rieger so d 0-0--0
21 Jackson Keane fr f 0-0--0
Goaltending
1 Peter Thome so 0-1-0 4.51 .786
31 Adam Scheel fr 1-1-1 2.23 .878
Minnesota
Scoring
18 Clayton Phillips so d 0-0-4
7 Brannon McManus so f 2-1--3
58 Sampo Ranta fr f 2-0--2
15 Rem Pitlick jr f 1-1--2
14 Garrett Wait fr f 1-1--2
19 Scott Reedy so f 0-2--2
22 Tyler Sheehy sr f 1-0--1
9 Sammy Walker fr f 1-0--1
2 Jack Sadek sr d 0-1--1
17 Tommy Novak sr f 0-1--1
26 Darian Romanko sr f 0-1--1
20 Ryan Zuhlsdorf jr d 0-1--1
10 Brent Gates Jr. sr f 0-0--0
16 Jack Ramsey sr f 0-0--0
23 Ryan Norman sr f 0-0--0
29 Tyler Nanne jr d 0-0--0
4 Ben Brinkman fr d 0-0--0
3 Robbie Stucker fr d 0-0--0
28 Sam Rossini so d 0-0--0
Goaltending
40 Mat Robson jr 1-0-1 2.40 .936
37 Eric Schierhorn jr 0-0-0 NA NA
TALE OF THE TAPE
UND
Record: 1-2-1
Ranking: 17
Offense: 2.50 (34th)
Defense: 3.25 (30th)
Power play: 18.8 (31st)
Penalty kill: 61.5 (54th)
Goaltending: .833 (52nd)
Minnesota
Record: 1-0-1
Ranking: 5
Offense: 4.00 (9th)
Defense: 2.50 (20th)
Power play: 20.0 (25th)
Penalty kill: 70.0 (48th)
Goaltending: .936 (8th)
THE FOCUS
Minnesota expected to be deep at forward this season -- and then received a big, unexpected boost at the last minute. Colorado Avalanche draft pick Sampo Ranta asked Wisconsin for a release from his letter of intent and instead enrolled at Minnesota. Wisconsin declined to answer to the State Journal whether admissions was an issue. Ranta has already been an impact player scoring two goals in two games for the Gophers.
THE PICK
Minnesota has had an extremely impressive start under first-year coach Bob Motzko. The Gophers got a win and a tie against defending national champions and then-No. 1 Minnesota Duluth. They routed a good U.S. Under-18 Team. And UND has had its share of struggles. But something about the big stages and highlight games seem to bring out the best in UND, which will be playing in front of a home crowd. UND 4, Minnesota 3.
NOTES
**** Former UND standout Jonathan Toews played in his 800th regular-season NHL game this week for the Chicago Blackhawks. Toews, 30, has 298 goals and 685 regular-season points for the Blackhawks. Toews is in his 12th season with the Blackhawks. He has been captain of the team for the last 11 years.
**** Former UND defenseman Christian Wolanin was called up by the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday morning. Wolanin has three points in seven games for Belleville this season. He played 10 games with Ottawa last season at the conclusion of his junior year at UND. The Senators are scheduled to be in Las Vegas on Sunday, one day after the UND-Minnesota game.
**** It’s Milestone Watch time for former UND forward Zach Parise, now an alternate captain for the Minnesota Wild. Heading into Saturday's game, Parise was just four points shy of 700 for his NHL career. Only one other UND player has hit the 700-point mark: Dave Christian tallied 773.
**** Former UND standout Travis Zajac practiced Wednesday for the first time after suffering an injury on Oct. 18. Zajac had four points in five games to start the season for the Devils. His former UND teammate, Drew Stafford, has played in two games for New Jersey this season.
**** UND recruit Massimo Rizzo is expected to play his first game of the season Saturday night for the Penticton Vees. Rizzo, expected to be a mid-round draft pick, has been out with an injury. Rizzo is Penticton's captain.
