Hockey

Huskies Blank RedHawks, 3-0, in NCHC Opener

Oct. 30, 2015

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ST. CLOUD, Minn. - In a rematch of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference finals from a year ago, No. 13/14 St. Cloud State posted a 3-0 shutout over No. 14/15 Miami in both team's league opener on Friday night.

Friday's loss is Miami's second straight as it falls to 3-3-1 on the season and 0-1 in NCHC play.

The Huskies (5-2, 1-0 NCHC) came out firing in their first few shifts, taking three sharp angle shots on goal in the first minute and a half, all of which were stopped by Ryan McKay. A few minutes later Jimmy Murray carried the puck in transition and moved into the slot for a shot that McKay got a pad on to keep out. After the first media timeout, St. Cloud State held a 5-1 edge in shots on goal.

Extended zone pressure eventually got the Huskies as a point shot got through traffic for a McKay stop, but Patrick Newell was nearby to collect the rebound and scored from a sharp angle to put them up 1-0 8:23 into the contest.

St. Cloud State held a 12-3 lead in shots midway through the first period and went to its first power play of the night with 9:05 left in the opening stanza. McKay was sharp during the Huskie advantage, making three stops to keep it a one-goal as the RedHawks killed off their 19th-straight penalty.

Offensive pressure was hard to come by for Miami in the first period, but Anthony Louis managed to generate a chance off some cycling. The junior forward cut between the circles from the right side and wristed a shot that Charlie Lindgren deflected away with his glove. That was the last shot the RedHawks got through to Lindgren as they were outshot 17-4 in the first 20 minutes of play.

Play was back and forth over the first couple shifts of the second period, but SCSU padded its lead at the 1:51 mark when Ryan Papa beat his man up the ice and was fed in the slot, where he picked the corner to make it a 2-0 contest. Miami's first shot of the middle frame was a quality one as a clean breakout saw Louis feed Sean Kuraly as he cut in front of the goal, but Lindgren kept the redirected shot in front of him.

With the Huskies still controlling play, the RedHawks got a transition rush where Kuraly drove down the left side and flung a shot that got stopped by Lindgren. During the rush, Kuraly drew a penalty to put Miami on its first power play of the night. That man advantage lasted all of 24 seconds as the Red and White got called for a minor penalty to negate the man advantage.

With a second left on its brief power play, SCSU was called for a penalty off a faceoff to give MU its first true crack with a man advantage. The Huskies were able to contain the RedHawks as they only got one shot through that Lindgren smothered to maintain their two-goal edge. The early tally by Papa was the only one of the frame as Miami trailed 2-0 after 40 minutes.

St. Cloud State packed it in defensively and frustrated Miami in the third period. The Red and White did not get their first shot through to Lindgren until roughly nine minutes in when Kevin Morris corralled a turnover in the slot and had his shot steered away by SCSU's goaltender. The RedHawks started to get a few more pucks through, but most of the shots were clean looks from the perimeter that Lindgren steered away. One particular rush nearly bore fruit though as Kiefer Sherwood fired a low shot from the right circle off Lindgren's pad with Louis nearby, but the puck bounced away from the junior forward and the Huskies eventually cleared.

The Huskies got another rebound goal from Newell with a delayed penalty in progress with 6:17 left to effectively put the game away.

St. Cloud State ended up outshooting Miami 40-15 overall as McKay made 37 saves while Lindgren stopped all 15 Miami attempts. The RedHawks killed off all four Huskies' power plays, but went 0-for-3 themselves as they were shut out for the first time since March 1, 2014.

These teams wrap up their weekend series on Saturday night. Puck drops at 8:07 p.m. ET.

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