OXFORD, Ohio – Casey Gilling and
Karch Bachman combined for eight points as the Miami hockey team roared out of the gates and rallied to earn a 4-4 tie against No. 1/2 North Dakota on Friday night.
Miami's (6-11-4, 3-6-2-1 National Collegiate Hockey) high-scoring duo had four points apiece as the Red and White picked up a point in the conference standings since the Fighting Hawks (17-2-3, 8-1-2-2 NCHC) won the sudden death shootout.
The RedHawks wasted little time getting to work as their high scoring line of
Karch Bachman,
Casey Gilling and
Gordie Green struck twice in a 26-second span. At the 1:03 mark, Bachman gathered the puck beneath the goal line and centered a backhand pass out front to Gilling, who caught Adam Scheel down on his line and netted his sixth of the season. Green then put the Red & White on top 2-0 by crashing the net and following up an angled Bachman shot for his 10th of the season.
North Dakota went on a power play for the first time with 2:20 gone by, but Miami's penalty kill unit was equal to the task as its two-goal lead held past the midway point of the opening frame.
The game seemed to settle down for large stretches of the first with MU maintaining the 2-0 cushion before UND got another power play late in the opening stanza. This time, Westin Michaud was able to redirect a pass by Jordan Kawaguchi home to make it a 2-1 contest with 4:13 to go in the period.
Miami used its transition game to rebuild its two-goal cushion as a
Karch Bachman chip took a strange bounce past a UND defender at its offensive blue line, which sprung Gilling going the other way. The junior center looked off the goaltender and then wired a wrist shot inside the near post from the left wing for his second of the night to up the lead to 3-1.
Rourke Russell also picked up a helper on the tally.
It took just 17 seconds for the Fighting Hawks to answer as Kawaguchi took a lob pass in the neutral zone, gained the line and fed to Grant Mismash atop the crease to pull the Fighting Hawks back within a goal at 3-2. That's where the score held at intermission with North Dakota holding a slim (9-8) lead in shots on goal.
The first five minutes of the second were fairly nondescript, but a pair of MU penalties 51 seconds apart changed that. UND was able to keep play alive in the offensive zone during 5-on-3 play and eventually Kawaguchi tied it up by finishing a back-door feed near the goal line for his third point of the evening. That left the score 3-3 with 12:37 to go in the middle stanza.
Miami got a brief power play, but was unable to regain the lead. North Dakota outshot Miami 12-4 in the middle period, but the score held at 3-3 after 40 minutes.
After getting just one abbreviated power play in the first two periods, Miami went on the man advantage just 49 seconds into the third, but was unable to do anything with the numbers. Another power play came and went without a shot at the 5:40 mark as MU went to the midway point of the third without a shot on goal.
Even so, the teams remained deadlocked at three apiece until Cole Smith scored on a 2-on-1 rush to put the Fighting Hawks on top for the first time with 4:08 left in regulation.
An offensive zone penalty by UND opened the door for MU to come back with just over three minutes remaining. After a couple fruitless power plays at the beginning of the frame, the RedHawks were able to bear down needing a goal. The puck was worked to Gilling at the right circle, where he moved in for a shot that got blocked. The loose puck was then chipped into the middle where
John Sladic whacked at it on his backhand and surprised Peter Thome for his sixth of the season, which left the score 4-4 with 2:34 left.
The Fighting Hawks buzzed in the offensive zone down the stretch and appeared to regain the lead with 27.5 seconds remaining when a point shot hit Collin Adams and redirected in. However, officials waved the goal off immediately due to the puck being hit with a high stick. Video review confirmed the call on the ice and the game wore on into overtime.
UND outshot MU by a 4-1 count in the overtime, but Miami got a power play opportunity with 2:32 to play. The RedHawks put together one quick shot on a one-timer, but Thome steered it aside to send the contest to 3-on-3 play. The Fighting Hawks had a power play chance down the stretch, but were unable to capitalize as the contest went to the sudden death shootout.
Both goaltenders made saves in the first round of the shootouts, but Grant Mismash converted his attempt in the second round and Thome stood his ground to give UND the extra NCHC point.
The Fighting Hawks outshot the RedHawks 37-16 on the night and went 2-for-4 on the power play while MU was 1-for-5 on the man advantage. Gilling (2g, 2a) and Bachman (4a) figured in all four Miami goals with career-best four-point nights. Larkin finished the game with 33 saves and is nine saves shy of setting Miami's career record.
Miami finishes its season series against North Dakota on Saturday night with the opening faceoff at 7:05 p.m.
