Ludvig Persson, top-ranked North Dakota stymies Beavers to earn sweep

Nov. 25—GRAND FORKS, N.D. — After Friday night's 3-2 overtime win, North Dakota men's hockey head coach Brad Berry was pleased to see his team get goaltender Ludvig Persson a victory on a night where he didn't have his best game. A day later, the senior out of Hindås, Sweden, repaid the favor.

Persson made 29 saves to earn his 11th win this season, the most of any goalie in college hockey, and Bemidji State made him work for it.

The Beavers earned a 5-on-3 situation for a full two minutes with 1:46 left in the first period. UND's Hunter Johannes was called for a contact-to-the-head major penalty on Jere Vaisanen. Louis Jamernik V then took a penalty for cross-checking in the neutral zone shortly after to give the Beavers a two-man advantage.

Even with the ice tilted in Bemidji State's favor, Persson was up to the task. He made two saves, including a snag with his glove through a screen.

"He's pretty good. He's a good goalie," BSU head coach Tom Serratore said. "I thought he was really good. He made some key saves, but so did Gavin (Enright)."

Persson added to his nation's 10th-best save percentage with robbery-level stops throughout the night. The transfer from Miami of Ohio stoned Bemidji State's leading scorer, Lleyton Roed, twice on point-blank chances in the second and third periods.

"I thought he played a good game (Friday) night, maybe not the greatest game," Berry said. "But tonight, he played a great game and came back with an effort tonight that was outstanding ... that we've been seeing all year. Teams that win have great goaltending, and we've been having it."

The Beavers' extended power play was their best chance to break through on Saturday night. Instead, BSU was blanked in its last five periods after scoring twice in the opening frame on Friday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

"We needed to score on that five-minute power play," Serratore said. "Whether it was the 5-on-3 or the rest of the power play, we didn't (score). Looking back at it, that obviously was a big part of the game, and we didn't get it done."

North Dakota killed the 5-on-3 and the rest of the major penalty with a 1-0 lead. A breakdown in the corner of Bemidji State's defensive end led to Griffin Ness feeding Dane Montgomery for an effortless tap-in goal past Enright 4:37 into the first period.

"I'm cheering for that kid, man," Berry said of Montgomery. "I love that kid. He just does whatever you ask him to do — in practice, in the community, in the classroom, then on the ice. He just brings it. He'll take anything that you give him. I'm happy he got rewarded tonight with a huge first goal of the game."

Bemidji State had the nation's worst penalty kill heading into the game at 67.5%. However, the Beavers killed five of the six Fighting Hawks power plays this weekend.

"It's baby steps," Serratore said. "Again, it was nice to have some success on the kill. Hopefully, that carries over to (our next series)."

The only one BSU didn't kill was in the second period. Amid a discombobulated offensive-zone cycle, Jackson Blake lucked out for the Fighting Hawks. His shot from the top of the slot was aimed several feet wide of Enright but hit Tony Follmer's shin and bounced in for a 2-0 lead.

When Bemidji State started selling out for a goal late in the third period, the wheels fell off defensively. Ben Strinden took advantage of a neutral-zone turnover and scored on a breakaway with a toe-drag move around Enright. Jackson Kunz and Garrett Pyke tacked on two more in the closing minutes to snuff out any potential of another miraculous BSU comeback.

"You're playing a different game when you're playing catch-up hockey," Serratore said. "Overall, I still thought we played a good game. I could give a rip about the last two or three goals. We're just trying to get something going. We're taking chances, and it's going to work one way or the other way."

The Beavers were without senior center and assistant captain Jackson Jutting on Saturday. Jutting collided with a UND player in the third period of Friday's game. Despite staying on the bench for the remainder of the game, Jutting was held out of the lineup with a lower-body injury on Saturday.

Jutting is Bemidji State's top faceoff taker, winning 52.9% of his draws on 219 attempts this season. Bemidji State entered Saturday's contest as the 55th-ranked team in the country on faceoffs at 46.8%. Without Jutting, the win percentage drops to 44.7%.

More importantly, Jutting was one of BSU's hottest scorers, netting four goals and two assists in his last four games.

"You can't lose your best all-around player and think somebody else is going to pick up the slack," Serratore said.

The Beavers dropped to 5-9-0 ahead of a bye week, while UND (11-2-1) won its seventh consecutive game.

"They were the better team tonight," Serratore said. "Looking back at the past two nights, last night was the one we needed. We had the lead. We were up 2-0, and we gave the lead away. Everything last night was tailor-made for us. Tonight, hats off to North Dakota."

North Dakota 5, Bemidji State 0

BSU 0 0 0 — 0

UND 1 1 3 — 5

First period — UND GOAL: Montgomery (Ness, Zmolek) 4:37.

Second period — UND GOAL: Blake (Livanavage) PP, 5:13.

Third period — UND GOAL: Strinden (unassisted) 14:05; UND GOAL: Kunz (Britt, Persson) 15:05; UND GOAL: Pyke (Gaber, Blake) 18:28.

Saves — Enright (BSU) 26; Persson (UND) 29.