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NCAA hockey: North Dakota's experience, intensity trump Badgers' home-ice advantage

Jim Polzin  —  3/31/2008 6:29 am

Reaching for the panic button was never an option for the North Dakota men's hockey team Sunday night.

In fact, to hear the Fighting Sioux tell it, they were as calm and composed as they'd been all weekend in Madison despite facing a two-goal deficit as they entered the third period of an NCAA Midwest Regional final against the University of Wisconsin.

North Dakota may have stunned the partisan crowd of 9,816 by rallying for a 3-2 overtime victory over the Badgers, but the Fighting Sioux weren't shocked by the outcome.

"It's a position we've been in before," North Dakota senior goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux said. "Our big-time leaders stepped up and made big plays for us. We have a quiet confidence in our dressing room. We're comfortable in these situations, and the bottom line is that you have to go out and execute."

North Dakota's significant edge in experience negated UW's home-ice advantage, especially during a pivotal third period.

It wasn't so much that the Badgers (16-17-7), who have 14 underclassmen and just six upperclassmen, melted under the pressure after entering the period with just 20 minutes separating them and an improbable journey to college hockey's biggest stage.

It was that North Dakota (28-10-4), which features 14 upperclassmen, was poised and confident in erasing the two-goal deficit and eventually clinching the program's fourth consecutive berth in the Frozen Four.

"That third period was the first time we relaxed all weekend really," junior forward T.J. Oshie said of the Fighting Sioux, who were outshot 80-49 in their two Midwest Regional victories, including 39-18 in a semifinal victory over Princeton on Saturday.

"Going into that third, we kind of talked about having fun again and playing with intensity. Our game isn't panicking. It's intensity. It's initiating everything on the ice."

It's also about turning to the team's veteran leaders for guidance. During intermission, senior captain Rylan Kaip was one of the players who delivered an impassioned plea to let everything ride in the third period or else it would be the Fighting Sioux's final one of the season. Then Kaip set an example with his actions by scoring 3:33 into the third. Just 47 seconds later, junior Ryan Duncan scored his fourth goal in two days to tie the game.

"You try not to let doubt creep into your mind," Duncan said. "It's your season on the line. We definitely were going to do everything in that third period to make sure our season continued."

Of course, North Dakota never would have gotten to the third period within striking distance had it not been for the magnificent work of Lamoureux, a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. Arguably the most important of Lamoureux's 41 saves came midway through the second period when he stoned Michael Davies on a breakaway to keep UW's lead at 1-0.

"You've got to give credit to Lamoureux," UW senior defenseman Kyle Klubertanz said. "He's a Hobey Baker goaltender. He made key saves when they needed them. If we would have buried maybe one of those chances, it would have been a different outcome."

Instead, it was Lamoureux chucking his stick high in the air after teammate Andrew Kozek scored the game-winner 1:47 into overtime. That was just part of the celebration that came on the home ice of a Western Collegiate Hockey Association rival that just an hour earlier was in control of the game.

"That's what makes it even more sweeter," Duncan said.

Jim Polzin  —  3/31/2008 6:29 am