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Friday, December 2
St. Cloud, Minn.
7:30 P.M. CT
St. Cloud State
vs
North Dakota
No. 3 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Hosts Rival North Dakota
12/1/2022 6:12:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Huskies and Fighting Hawks to meet for 142nd and 143rd times
NO. 3 ST. CLOUD STATE vs. (RV) NORTH DAKOTA |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OPPONENT |
LOCATION |
DAY |
TIME (CT) |
TV |
RADIO |
STATS |
GAME NOTES |
| Â (RV) North Dakota | St. Cloud, Minn. | Friday, Dec. 2 | 7:30 p.m. | Fox 9 + /Â NCHC.tv | KNSI | Stats | SCSU Notes |
| (RV) North Dakota | St. Cloud, Minn. | Saturday, Dec. 3 | 6:00 p.m. | Fox 9 + /Â NCHC.tv | KNSI | Stats | UNDÂ Notes |
THE MATCHUP
- No. 3 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey returns home to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center to host rival North Dakota this weekend, with puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT on Friday and 6:00 p.m. CT on Saturday. Both games will be televised on Fox 9 + and streamed on NCHC.tv with Jim Rich and former Husky captain Geno Parrish on the call, while Husky Hockey veterans Jim Erickson and Dave Reichel will have the radio call on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM). The Huskies return to play after an off weekend over the Thanksgiving holiday, as the weekend prior, St. Cloud State swept Colorado College, 3-1 and 5-0, in Colorado Springs on Nov. 18-19. North Dakota is coming off a home-and-home series with Bemidji State, as the two teams skated to a 3-3 tie in Bemidji on Nov. 25 before a 4-2 victory from the Fighting Hawks on Nov. 26.
SERIES HISTORY
- This weekend's series will be the 142nd and 143rd meetings between the Huskies and Fighting Hawks, with all but one series happening since the 1989-90 season. The Fighting Hawks lead the overall series 79-46-16, and are 30-24-0 against the Huskies all-time in St. Cloud. The Huskies went 1-2-1 against North Dakota last season, as the two teams split a series in St. Cloud on Dec. 3-4, 2021 before UND won on Jan. 28 and the two teams skated to a 3-3 tie on Jan. 29. St. Cloud State beat the Fighting Hawks, 8-1, on Dec. 3, its largest margin of victory over North Dakota since joining Division-I, surpassing is 9-2 win on Jan. 20, 1995, and the first time North Dakota has lost by seven goals since Feb. 1998.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST SERIES
- In its last time out, St. Cloud State swept Colorado College on the road, winning 3-1 and 5-0 on Nov. 18-19. In Friday's win, the Huskies prevailed 3-1 after senior defenseman Dylan Anhorn netted the game-winner with 3:32 left in the game and senior forward Zach Okabe added an empty netter to close the game. Two funny bounces were the only scores in the first 55 minutes of the game, as senior defenseman Brendan Bushy scored on a shorthanded goal from nearly 180-feet. The Huskies pounded the Tigers on Saturday, winning 5-0 behind a 36-save shutout performance from junior goalie Dominic Basse, who returned to the spot where he played his first two collegiate seasons. Freshman forward Jack Rogers scored his first collegiate goal and sophomore defenseman Josh Luedtke scored his first goal of the season, while senior forward Grant Cruikshank tallied his 11th goal of the season and Okabe added a pair of goals.
TOUGH TO SCORE ON
- Near the halfway mark of the season, St. Cloud State has made its mark as one of the toughest defensive teams in the country, ranking among the nation's top-10 in numerous defensive categories. The Huskies lead the nation in scoring defense (1.71 goals per game) and save percentage (.955), and check in at second in short-handed goals (five), third in scoring margin (1.57) and 10th in penalty kill percentage (.855). A big piece to the puzzle defensively for the Huskies has been the play between the pipes, as senior goalie Jaxon Castor and junior goalie Dominic Basse have played outstanding while splitting time between the net. Castor, Friday's starter for the season to-date, has produced a 5-2-0 record with a 2.01 goals-against-average and .923 save percentage. Basse, the Saturday starter, has boasted a 6-1-0 record with a nation-leading 1.29 GAA and .948 S%.
BUSHY & BASSE EARN NCHC WEEKLY HONORS
- Junior goalie Dominic Basse and graduate defenseman Brendan Bushy each earned NCHC weekly honors, as Basse was named the Goaltender of the Week, while Bushy was named the Defenseman of the Week following the Huskies sweep over Colorado College over the weekend.
- Basse was superb in goal for the Huskies in St. Cloud State's 5-0 win over Colorado college on Saturday, making a season-high 36 saves and turning away two power play chances in a shutout performance against his former team. The shutout was Basse's second of the season and third of his career. On the season, Basse is 6-1-0 on the season with a 1.29 goals-against-average and .948 save percentage. National, he leads the NCAA in save percentage (.948) and GAA (1.29).
- Bushy recorded two points (one goal / one assist) while helping anchor the Husky defense the yielded only one goal all weekend. Bushy scored a shorthanded goal in the 3-1 win on Friday and added an assist on the game-winning goal in a 5-0 win on Saturday while producing a +3 mark on the ice with four blocks. Bushy's shorthanded goal came on a near 180-foot clearance that skipped over the CC goaltender for the first goal of the game on Friday. On Saturday, Bushy's shot to the goal was tipped by Jack Rogers into the net at the 5:03 mark of the first period to put the Huskies up 1-0. Bushy was credited with the primary assist. Bushy played a vital part of the SCSU penalty kill unit that went 6-of-6 on the weekend and improved to 85.5 percent (47-of-55), a mark which ranks second in the NCHC and 10th in the nation.
CRUIKSHANK'S OFFENSIVE EMERGENCE
- St. Cloud State senior forward Grant Cruikshank has been an offensive juggernaut through the first 14 games of the season, as he leads the team in goals (11) and points (17), while ranking sixth in assists (six). Among national leaders, the fifth-year senior transfer ranks fith in goals (11) and 16th in points (17). He earned NCHC Forward of the Week honors after leading SCSU to a sweep of No. 2 Minnesota State by recording five points (three goals / two assists).
- Cruikshank's hot start to the season - 10 goals in 12 games - was the best start by a Husky since Ryan Lasch scored 10 goals in the first 11 games of the 2007-08 season.
- Cruikshank played a big part in the Huskies 4-3 overtime win over Denver on Nov. 4, as he scored a third period goal to make the score 2-2, then assisted on junior forward Veeti Miettinen's game-winning goal in overtime.
- In SCSU's win over Minnesota State on Oct. 21 (3-2), Cruikshank helped lead a comeback, scoring the game-tying goal late in the second period before assisting on the game-winning goal early in the third period. In the Oct. 22 victory (4-3), Cruikshank scored the game's first goal, a shorthanded goal, assisted on the team's second goal, then scored the game-winning goal with less than four minutes remaining in the game. It was his first goal of either kind as a Husky, and fourth of either kind overall in his career.
- The fifth-year senior scored six goals in five consecutive games between Oct. 2 and Oct. 22, a scoring stretch not seen by an SCSU skater since Judd Peterson did so from Oct. 15-29, 2016. He was the first Husky to score six goals in the first six games of a season since Matt Hendricks and Nate DiCasmirro both did so to open the 2001-02 season. Since 2001-02, Cruikshank is one of 10 Huskies to record a 5-game or more goal streak, and the first since Veeti Miettinen did so in the 2020-21 season.
Players Mentioned
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