St. Cloud State Edges Top-Ranked Minnesota 4-3
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) — Nic Dowd had a goal and an assist and Drew LeBlanc scored the game-winner as St. Cloud State held off No. 1-ranked Minnesota 4-3 Saturday.
LeBlanc's goal gave the Western Collegiate Hockey Association-leading Huskies (18-11-1, 15-6-1) a 4-1 lead at 6:40 of the third period.
St. Cloud State goalie Ryan Faragher made 10 of his 36 saves in the third period to preserve the lead.
"It's huge," Faragher said of the win. "We needed to come out with a great effort. We came out and showed we were able to play against a top team."
Minnesota (19-5-4, 11-5-4) didn't make it easy. It came back on goals by Nick Bjugstad and Nate Condon to cut the deficit to 4-3 with 5:34 left in the game. The Gophers outshot St. Cloud State 39-21.
"I thought we played extremely hard and were into it," Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. "We just didn't execute. Give our guys credit. We had opportunities but we just couldn't get it."
Minnesota is among the top 10 teams in the nation in power play and penalty kill. It was 2-for-4 with a man advantage and held the Huskies scoreless in two chances.
Minnesota goalie Adam Wilcox made 17 saves.
One night after having his 13-game scoring streak snapped, Jonny Brodzinski scored to give him 17 points in his last 15 games. Joey Holka also scored for the Huskies.
Nate Schmidt scored for Minnesota.
With the win, the Huskies extended their lead over the Gophers to five points. They hold a three-point lead over second-place North Dakota.
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