There’s an old saying in college hockey, sweep at home and split on the road. This season, the University of North Dakota hasn’t really taken those words to heart. As of late, playing at the Ralph Engelstad Arena has been a house of horrors for the UND hockey team. In the last 10 games at home, UND is 2-6-2 at home and has lost three of the last four games they’ve played in the friendly confines of the Ralph.
This weekend, the Hawks players traveled to Colorado Springs confident and looking forward to playing on the road where they’ve had a great deal of success. The last-place Colorado College Tigers stood in their way.
On Friday night, UND faced some unexpected adversity. All-American goalie Cam Johnson sustained a lower-body injury and was unable to go. The UND coaching staff has listed Johnson as day-to-day.
With Johnson sitting in the stands due to a lower-body injury, UND head coach Brad Berry started sophomore goalie Matej Tomek in his place. This would be Tomek’s much anticipated first collegiate start. That start would be short lived and end after 20 minutes of play. In the first period, Tomek gave up two goals on six shots and spotted the Tigers a 2-0 lead. Senior backup goalie Matt Hrynkiw relieved Tomek to start the second period and he stopped all 15 shots that he faced.
Road Warriors
After beating Colorado College 5-2 in Colorado Springs, CO, the Fighting Hawks have now won seven-straight games on the road. For those that are scratching their heads, imagine this, UND now has a better record on the road 7-3-1 (.681) than they do at home 7-6-2 (.533). Breaking it down further, in the last 15 games, UND is 9-5-1 (.633) and seven of those wins are on the road.
Win Didn’t Come Easy
While the final score didn’t appear close, UND was 5:19 way from losing the game. Entering the third period, the Hawks were trailing 2-1 and in danger of losing to the Tigers for the first time since 3-15-2014. UND almost earned the dubious honor of being the first visiting team to lose a game at the World Arena this season. From the interesting stat department, UND held a 1-7-0 record when trailing after two periods of play. After the win, UND is now 2-7-0.
Stats of Interest
All-American sophomore forward Brock Boeser has a four-game pointless streak. He hasn’t scored since the second game of the Nebraska-Omaha series.
All good things must come to an end. After being scratched due to a lower-body injury, UND All-American goalie Cam Johnson saw his consecutive starts streak end at 55. All-time, Johnson is tied with former UND goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux.
Sophomore forward Joel Janatuinen is starting to heat up. The Espoo, Finland, native has recorded points in five of the last six games. During those six games, Janatuinen has recorded (3g-4a—7pts). Janatuinen has already surpassed last season’s point total.
In his limited action this season, Hrynkiw is 1-1-0, 1.69 GAA and .941 save percentage. During his career at UND, Hrynkiw has played in 16 games and is 11-3-2, 2.09 GAA and a .913 save percentage.
It’s been a rough start for Matej Tomek. In parts of two games lasting 32:11, Tomek is 0-0-0, .746 GAA and a .692 save percentage. I imagine that the coaching staff would like to see him get some gave action in the future.
No need to panic, UND is now ranked 7th in the current pairwise rankings. UND needs to continue to win games if they want to qualify for the NCAA tourney. Their current strength of schedule is definitely helping them. UND has the 3rd hardest strength of schedule. For comparison sake, check our fellow league members and where they rank for SOS: UMD 1, Denver 2, Miami 4, St. Cloud State 5, Colorado College 6, Western Michigan 7.
In the last 14 games against the Tigers, UND is 13-0-1.
UND is 4-3-0 during the month of January.
Watch the highlights of UND's comeback win at Colorado College: https://t.co/OGaIKVzl3t
— UND Insider (@UNDinsider) January 28, 2017
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