GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Minnesota Duluth shuffled its lines, struck early and never let No. 2 North Dakota recover Saturday night.
The Bulldogs scored twice in the opening period, got 33 saves from Adam Gajan and rolled past the top-seeded Fighting Hawks 5-1 in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff semifinal at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
The victory sends Minnesota Duluth to Denver on Saturday for the NCHC championship game against second-seeded Denver.
“We’ve done it before, we tried it,” Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin said of breaking up his top line. “It’s great when it works, it’s great a couple of those guys got goals, that we got early goals and this guy (Gajan) was great, and certainly in the first period. He made some key saves, and then we got the next one, which was good. We expected a push in the third period and we got a couple more. Real good road win for us against a good team.”
Minnesota Duluth, which had rallied in each of its previous three games, took control from the start.
Callum Arnott scored just 2:14 into the first period, following a Joey Pierce chance and burying the rebound for a 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs made it 2-0 at 7:16 of the first after killing off a penalty, when Max Plante carried the puck through the neutral zone, maneuvered around a North Dakota defender in the slot and beat Jan Spunar on the blocker side.
That fast start gave Gajan room to settle in, and the sophomore goalie did the rest. North Dakota generated pressure throughout the night and finished with a 34-22 edge in shots, but Gajan repeatedly turned away quality chances and helped the Bulldogs kill all three Fighting Hawks power plays.
Minnesota Duluth stretched the lead to 3-0 just 1:26 into the second period. Jayson Shaugabay, skating away from the Plante brothers for the first time since Jan. 31, cashed in on a rebound off a Ty Hanson drive to the net.
The Bulldogs did not generate much sustained offense in the second, recording only seven shots and going through a six-minute stretch without one, but North Dakota still could not break through.
The Fighting Hawks finally got on the board 1:59 into the third period when Dylan James scored through traffic, with Gajan screened on the play. Any momentum from that goal disappeared midway through the period.
Harper Bentz, elevated to the top line Saturday night, restored the three-goal cushion at 8:09 of the third by redirecting an Adam Kleber shot from the right point for his fifth goal of the season.
Kyle Gaffney put the game away 4:40 later, scoring from a sharp angle above the extended goal line to make it 5-1 and send the Bulldogs into the conference championship game for the first time since 2022.
Minnesota Duluth improved to 23-13-1, while North Dakota fell to 27-9-1.
Spunar finished with 17 saves for the Fighting Hawks, who now wait for their NCAA Tournament seeding.
The Bulldogs will face Denver in the Frozen Faceoff championship game next Saturday in Denver. Game time has not been announced.
Arnott had a goal and an assist for Minnesota Duluth, and Luke Bibby added two assists for his first points as a Bulldog. Zam Plante extended his point streak to four games and has seven points over that span. Hanson also stretched his scoring streak to four games, while Shaugabay pushed his to three.
Minnesota Duluth is 5-2 all-time in Frozen Faceoff semifinal games and will play for its fourth NCHC tournament title. Denver and the Bulldogs enter the championship game tied for the most titles in conference tournament history with three.
