SCSU leads early, tops rival North Dakota 8-1 on Friday

ST. CLOUD — No. 5-ranked St. Cloud State scored three goals in the opening 11 minutes on Friday night, forcing No. 7-ranked North Dakota to pull their goalie for the first time this year before the Huskies eased to an 8-1 win over their rival at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

The seven-goal victory tied the largest margin of victory ever for SCSU over North Dakota in their 138 meetings, also winning by seven goals in a 9-2 win in St. Cloud in 1995. The last time UND lost by seven goals was at Minnesota-Duluth in 1998.

SCSU forward Easton Brodzinski completed his first career hat trick early in the third period, while senior defenseman Nick Perbix assisted on four goals. It was the first time an SCSU player totaled four assists in a game since teammate Micah Miller accomplished the feat last January in an 8-2 win over Miami. The win moves the Huskies to 10-5 overall this season and ends a three-game losing streak.

Junior forward Kyler Kupka got the scoring started only 18 seconds into the game, receiving a pass from Perbix as he cut to the net and delivered with a clean finish.

It was the first time SCSU had scored a goal in the first minute of a game since a 5-3 win over North Dakota on Dec. 12 last year. SCSU has only scored in the first minute of a game four times in the last four seasons, and Kupka's goal at 18 seconds was the quickest in that stretch.

"We came out buzzing; we came out with our heads up and we were making plays," Brodzinski said. "We were able to get behind them and body them a little bit. It was definitely a body-blow shift for us, and the next shift was even bigger. We kept it down in their zone and kept it on them."

Preview: SCSU hockey looks to bounce back against rival North Dakota this weekend

Fifth-year players Kevin Fitzgerald and Brodzinski each added goals in the first period, with Brodzinski's coming on SCSU's first power play of the evening.

Freshman Jack Peart picked him out across the ice before Brodzinski buried the goal to lead 3-0 only 10:59 into the game. SCSU entered the weekend ranked first in the nation in power play percentage, while North Dakota was ranked 32nd in Division I on the penalty kill.

North Dakota opted to pull starting goalie Zach Driscoll after the third goal, who had played every minute of their 10-5 overall start this season. Freshman Jacob Hellsten got his first collegiate action in goal, making 22 total saves in nearly 50 minutes of action.

"We were able to pressure their (defense) and create some turnovers, and I thought our back pressure was really good too," head coach Brett Larson said. "Once they did gain the puck and start heading up the ice, I thought our forwards kept hounding it."

David Hrenak made some tremendous saves in the St. Cloud State net, including a one-on-one play early in the second period. He also stood tall after losing his stick for an extended period of time, but North Dakota came back down the ice after he recovered to score on a rebound from Connor Ford at 12:14 to make it a 3-1 game.

SCSU extended the lead back to three goals only minutes later, as Perbix took the puck off the draw and chipped it to a striding Veeti Miettinen near goal. Miettinen made the unselfish play and passed to a hard-charging Brodzinski to net his second goal of the evening and lead 4-1.

North Dakota's Chris Jandric was called for spearing after the goal and was handed a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct. Junior Zach Okabe cashed in on a goal with only 31 seconds remaining on the major penalty to give SCSU a 5-1 lead after two periods.

St. Cloud State junior Jami Krannila had the play of the night early in the third period, wrapping around the net with the puck on his stick in mid-air before whipping it in for a 6-1 lead. Larson and Brodzinski said they'd never seen him even attempt it in practice, making the highlight-reel goal even more impressive.

Brodzinski completed his hat trick less than two minutes later, and senior Nolan Walker finished the scoring on a rebound goal at 9:46 in the final period.

The Huskies are back in action on Saturday night to close out their weekend series with North Dakota. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m.

"North Dakota is gonna to come out hard tomorrow, there's no doubt about it," Larson said. "It's a huge game for us going into the Christmas break ... it's a heavyweight battle tomorrow night."

Zach Dwyer is a sports reporter and photographer for the St. Cloud Times. Reach him at 320-406-5660 or zdwyer@stcloudtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @sctimeszach.

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This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: SCSU leads early, tops rival North Dakota 8-1 on Friday