No. 2 North Dakota used goals early in the first and second periods to seize control, tacked on a couple of late empty-netters for good measure and took a 5-1 NCHC decision against No. 19 Denver on Monday night at Magness Arena.

In some ways the game was the reverse of Sunday’s 4-1 victory for the Pioneers (5-8-1), who came out charging and built a 2-0 lead in the first period.

North Dakota retook first place in the NCHC with the victory.

Here are a few observations from Monday’s game:

Quick strikes

Defenseman Matt Keirstad and forward Grant Mismash staked the Fighting Hawks (10-3-1) to a 2-0 lead just 3:20 into the game, and captain Jordan Kawaguchi, a 2020 Hobey Baker Award finalist, added to the margin only 3:54 into the second period.

“It was almost the exact opposite of last night,” DU coach David Carle said. “It was a conversation we had in the morning and during our pregame meeting. We knew they would come out with jump. (After the first 5 minutes) I liked our response in the next 10 minutes.

“They came out more desperate. Credit them and their start.”

Chances are

Not that Denver was without its opportunities. Denver had seven power plays, including a 5-on-3, and it managed a massive edge in total shots (68-45) and a decent one in shots on goal (33-26).

DU’s top line of Carter Savoie (13 shots), Cole Guttman (9) and Bobby Brink (7) fired 29 of the shots and put 13 on goal, including a few that drew iron.

“We had a lot of looks on the power play,” Carle said. “Adam Scheel obviously had a really good bounce-back performance.”

Scheel (32 saves) was pulled after allowing four goals in two periods on Sunday. He was one factor. Another was the Fighting Hawks blocking 21 shots.

Breaking through

The Pioneers found a bit of light at the end of the tunnel late when defenseman Slava Demin netted his second of the season with 2:52 to play. But North Dakota extinguished any comeback designs with the first of two empty-net goals 30 seconds later.

The Fighting Hawks scored a late goal to spoil a potential shutout by Magnus Chrona (21 saves) on Sunday, and that might have given them small boost heading into the rematch.

One hopes that DU, which showed plenty of battle Monday, will take the lessons from this loss and apply them at Omaha next weekend against a Mavericks team that is 7-3-1 heading into a game vs. Colorado College on Tuesday night and has been an NCHC surprise thus far.

©First Line Editorial 2021