No. 11 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Skates to 1-1 Tie with No. 8/9 Minnesota Duluth

Tuesday, February 22

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

15-11-4, 7-9-4

Minnesota Duluth

15-13-4, 8-8-4

OT 1

OT 2

Minn. Duluth

St. Cloud St.

No. 11 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Skates to 1-1 Tie with No. 8/9 Minnesota Duluth

2/22/2022 11:35:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Bulldogs record shootout win, Fitzgerald scores 15th goal of season

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 11 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (15-11-4, 7-9-4 NCHC) skated to a 1-1 tie with No. 8/9 Minnesota Duluth (15-13-4, 8-8-4 NCHC), with the Bulldogs earning the extra point in a shootout victory on Tuesday evening at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The Huskies outshot UMD, 47-26, but was unable to score more than one goal in the game to seize momentum.

TURNING POINT

Minnesota-Duluth struck first early in the second, as Connor Kelley blasted a wrister past senior goalie David Hrenak (Povaska Bystrica, Slovakia) to put the Bulldogs up 1-0 at 4:30 in the period. It took the Huskies the remainder of the second period and three minutes of the third to score the equalizer. Graduate forward Kevin Fitzgerald (Hinsdale, Ill.) swung for the fences on a junior forward Zach Okabe (Okotoks, Alberta) pass, eventually finessing it past Ryan Fanti to even things up 1-1 at 3:50 in the third period.

Both teams would pepper the net with shots in the remaining 16 minutes, but the goalies held firm on their respective offensive zones. Fanti would turn away 16 St. Cloud State shots in the third period, while Hrenak turned away the five shots he faced in the final frame, including a breakaway by Blake Biondi in the waning minutes. The fifth year senior's strong play carried over to overtime, as he made five saves compared to Fanti's one.

With the score deadlocked 1-1 after overtime, the Huskies and Bulldogs faced off in yet another shootout to determine who would receive the extra point in the NCHC standings. St. Cloud State was down 1-0 after the opening round, as Fitzgerald's shot went high over Fanti, and Noah Cates converted with a stick side shot. Senior forward Easton Brodzinski (Blaine, Minn.) tied the shootout 1-1, but the Huskies once again found themselves down after Quinn Olson deked Hrenak in front of the net. Sophomore forward Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) blasted a shot at Fanti, going for a quick goal through the five-hole, but it was for not, resulting in a 2-1 shootout victory for Minnesota-Duluth.

TOP HUSKIES

Fitzgerald scored his team-leading 15^th goal of the season with a third-period equalizer.
Hrenak made 25 saves in the goaltender's duel.
Okabe and junior forward Jami Krannila (Nokia, Finland) recorded assists on Fitzgerald's goal.

NOTES

The Huskies 47 shots were a season-high, besting its mark of 45 against Omaha on Nov. 13, 2021.
Fitzgerald scored his 15^th goal of the season for his 31^st point, both career-highs. With 98 career points, he now sits two points away from becoming the 38^th member of St. Cloud State's 100-point club.
Okabe's assist was his 14^th of the season, two of a career-high, while his 25^th point is already a career-high.
Krannila matched a career-best with his 12^th assist of the season and his 25^th point of the season.
Hrenak made 25 saves in the game, the 12^th time this season and 61^st time in his career he has made at least 25 saves in a game.
Hrenak's one goal allowed was the 13^th time this season and the 53^rd time in his career he has allowed one or less goal in a game.

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State will return to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Friday when the Huskies host Colorado College at 7:30 p.m. CT on Fox 9 +.

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 2021-22 season are available for purchase at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.