Second Period Rally Lifts No. 3 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey over North Dakota

Friday, December 2

St. Cloud, Minn.

7:30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

North Dakota

Second Period Rally Lifts No. 3 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey over North Dakota

12/3/2022 2:20:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Huskies score six unanswered goals to beat Fighting Hawks, 7-2

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 3 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (12-3-0, 5-2-0 NCHC) fell behind twice, but came back to score six unanswered goals in a 7-2 win over North Dakota (6-7-3, 2-4-1 NCHC) on Friday night at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. The Huskies were led on the ice by a trio of skaters who scored three points, as senior forward Jami Krannila (Nokia, Finland) scored two goals and an assist while sophomore defenseman Jack Peart (Grand Rapids, Minn.) and junior forward Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) each scored a goal and recorded two assists.

Six Huskies scored seven goals and 10 registered a point as the Huskies scored in a fashions, recording three even strength goals, two power play goals, one shorthanded goal and one extra attacker / delayed penalty goal.

TURNING POINT

Despite outshooting North Dakota, 14-9, in the opening period, St. Cloud State trailed 2-1 after the first 20 minutes of play. Krannila found the back of the net for his first score of the night at the 1:39 mark of the second period, but the Huskies found themselves on their heels once again with freshman forward Adam Ingram (West St. Paul, Manitoba) heading to the box for a tripping penalty at 8:49. However, the Husky penalty kill unit went to work, and senior Grant Cruikshank (Delafield, Wis.) reaped the benefits of the team's hard work, scoring a shorthanded goal at the 10:45 mark of the period.

The score completely shifted momentum into St. Cloud State's favor, and the Huskies proceeded to build upon it, scoring six unanswered goals in a 7-2 victory.

TOP HUSKIES

Krannila, the first star of the game, recorded his second multi-goal game of the season with his seventh and eight goals, while also recording his 11^th assist.
Miettinen notched his fourth goal of the season and recorded his 10^th and 11^th assists to earn the second star of the game.
Third star Peart found the back of the net for the first time this season and added his 10^th and 11^th assists.
Senior goalie Jaxon Castor (Phoenix, Ariz.) made 30 saves to earn the victory.

NOTES

St. Cloud State matched its best margin of victory, five, for the second straight game after winning 5-0 over Colorado College on Nov. 19.
With its win, the Huskies improve to 10-0-0 when leading after two periods, 8-0-0 when outshooting its opponent, 6-1-0 at home and 6-2-0 in the first game of a series.
St. Cloud State scored four goals in the second period, marking its best output in a period this season, surpassing its previous best mark of three goals, set three times this season, including three in the open period of its last game against Colorado College (Nov. 19).
The Huskies penalty kill remained elite, killing off all three of the Fighting Hawks power play chances in the game. The PK unit improved to 86.2 percent (50-of-58) on the season and have now killed off 13 straight penalties dating back to Nov. 12 against Western Michigan.
St. Cloud State scored on the power play to improve its man advantage mark to 23.8 percent (15-of-63) on the season.
In 142 all-time matchups, tonight's five-goal victory marked just the seventh time St. Cloud State has beaten North Dakota by five or more goals after also doing so on Jan. 1, 1947 (8-1 in Grand Forks), Jan. 22, 1994 (6-0 at home), Jan. 20, 1995 (9-2 at home), Nov. 3, 2001 (6-1 at home), Nov. 21, 2015 (6-1 at home) and on Jan. 3, 2021 (8-1 at home).
With three points (2-1-3), Krannila recorded his fourth consecutive multi-point game and took over the team lead in points with 19 (eight goals / 11 assists). Krannila moved into SCSU's top-50 on the all-time D-I scoring list with 86 points (39-47-86), matching Nick Jensen (15-71-86, 2010-13), Justin Fletcher (26-60-86, 2003-07), Matt Cullen (27-59-86, 1995-97) and Eric Johnson (27-59-86, 1991-95).
Peart matched a career-high with three points, equaling his mark he set against North Dakota last season (Dec. 3, 2021). He also found the back of the net for the first time this season and now has 29 career points (3-26-29).
Peart's +3 mark on the ice is a new career high, surpassing the +2 mark he's hit four times, most recently against Western Michigan (Nov. 12)
Miettinen recorded his fifth three-point game which his career-high three points. He has now recorded multiple points in back-to-back games.
In his first game back in more than a month, senior forward Kyler Kupka (Camrose, Alberta) scored a goal and added an assist for his eighth career multi-point game.
Cruikshank netted his 12^th goal of the season with his second period shorthanded goal, setting a new career-high for goals in a season, surpassing his mark of 11 in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Spellacy netted his second goal of the season with a first period wrister from just inside the blue line.
Graduate defenseman Brendan Bushy (Thief River Falls, Minn.) and senior forward Chase Brand (Park Rapids, Minn.) each matched career-bests with two assists.
Castor matched a season-best mark with 30 saves, equaling his mark against Minnesota State (Oct. 21) while improving to 6-2-0 on the season.

PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State and North Dakota will wrap up its series on Saturday. Puck drop at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center is slated for 6:00 p.m. CT on Fox 9 + and KNSI.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Men's Hockey, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Tickets for the 2022-23 season are available at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.