Minnesota Duluth inched closer to a first-round home-ice playoff series by beating Western Michigan 6-3 on the road Friday at Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Here are my thumbs up and thumbs down from Friday’s game, followed by my three stars of the game.
Thumbs up to UMD being able to score at will
The Bulldogs raced up and down the ice on Friday at Lawson Ice Arena and finished with six goals. Four came in the second period with three in a two-minute span. It was an impressive offensive showing.
Sophomore center Dominic Toninato scored twice in the third period. They were his first goals since Dec. 13. The first goal was a beautiful snipe to the opposite top corner. The other was an end-to-end, buzzer-beating empty netter.
The most impressive (from an offensive perspective) stretch was the three goals in two minutes at the end of the second period. Senior wing Justin Crandall and sophomore defenseman Willie Raskob teamed up for a great power play goal while freshman wing Karson Kuhlman and junior defenseman Andy Welinski responded to a pair of Western Michigan goals also scored during the two minutes of bedlam.
The Bulldogs have a lot of offensive talent. It was nice to see it all step up Friday at Western.
Thumbs down to poor shifts by the Bulldogs after scoring goals
That stretch of three goals in two minutes would have been even more impressive for UMD had it not given up two goals to Western as well.
Both goals came on shifts immediately after scoring a goal. Western scored 41 seconds after Crandall’s power play goal and 13 seconds after Kuhlman’s goal.
Everyone I talked to after the game – head coach Scott Sandelin, Kuhlman and junior wing Austin Farley – brought up how disappointed the team was about giving up those two goals. What eased the disappointment was scoring three times during that two-minute stretch. Sandelin was still shaking his head after the game thinking about those two minutes.
Matt’s Three Stars
3. UMD junior wing Austin Farley: Farley had the first assists on Willie Corrin’s goal 4:36 into the second period and Kuhlman’s goal. He was a solid set-up man on Friday, finishing with two assists.
2. UMD freshman forward Karson Kuhlman: Kuhlman tallied a goal and an assist. His goal was the second of three during the two-minute scoring spree. He then set up Toninato for his top-shelf snipe.
1. UMD senior wing Justin Crandall: I’ve seen a lot of nice passes this season by UMD, and the dish by Raskob was nice, but too often the Bulldogs have not taken advantage of these set-ups. They miss the net or miss the puck entirely. Tonight Crandall connected for a beautiful power play goal. His score ignited an exciting two-minutes of hockey.