OXFORD, Ohio — Miami was positioned for its biggest upset in years, leading the second-ranked team in Division I by two goals with 12 minutes left in regulation.
But No. 2 North Dakota scored twice late to tie the score and ultimately pulled out the win in overtime, 5-4 over the RedHawks at Cady Arena on Friday.
By advancing to overtime, Miami (7-16-2) earned one league point but dropped its fifth straight and fell to 1-12-15 in its last 28 extra sessions.
The teams wrap up their weekend series at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday.
RECAP: The RedHawks took the lead 9:45 into the first period. Spencer Cox threaded a stretch pass to a streaking Tanyon Bajzer, who drove the net from the blue line and slammed a forehander into the pads of North Dakota goalie Ludvig Persson at the top of crease, and Thomas Daskas sprinted in and backhanded the rebound into the net.
North Dakota (19-6-2) tied the score with 46 seconds left in the first period on the power play when Jake Livanavage carried the puck into the high slot and whipped a wrister that beat Miami goalie Bruno Bruveris on the glove side.
Just 24 seconds into the middle frame, the Fighting Hawks’ Cameron Berg handcuffed Bruveris with a shot from the high slot, and Jackson Kunz cleaned up the loose rebound that sat in the crease, giving UND a 2-1 lead and its second goal in 70 seconds.
But Miami answered just 42 seconds later, as Ryan Sullivan buried a slap shot from the right faceoff dot through the five hole of Persson on a 2-on-1.
The RedHawks took the lead two minutes later when Sullivan centered a pass from behind the net to Albin Nilsson, who one-timed it near post to make it 3-2.
Miami’s Axel Kumlin banked a pass off the half wall to send John Waldron alone for a shorthanded breakaway, which he buried glove side from the slot with 6:32 left in the middle stanza, extending MU’s lead to two.
Off a defensive-zone turnover with 11:19 left in regulation, North Dakota’s Logan Britt shoveled a wrist shot past Bruveris glove side, again from the high slot, cutting the Fighting Hawks’ deficit to one.
With 59 seconds left in regulation and Persson out in favor of an extra attacker, North Dakota’s Jackson Kunz fired a point-blank shot in the slot that Bruveris kicked out, and Riese Gaber batted the rebound home to tie it and force overtime.
And 84 seconds into the extra session, Jackson Blake went coast-to-coast for a 2-on-1 and buried a wrister near post from the inside edge of the right faceoff circle.
STATS: Top linemates by default Nilsson and Sullivan led Miami with two points apiece, with both going 1-1-2.
It was the first career multi-point game for Sullivan, a senior.
Sullivan, who transferred to the RedHawks last spring following three seasons with UMass, has goals in three straight games. He leads the team with a current four-game points streak, during which he’s 3-2-5.
His previous career high in points for a season was four.
It was Nilsson’s first multi-point game as a RedHawk. He has five points in seven games since rejoining the team following his knee injury.
— Waldron’s goal was his seventh of the season and snapped a seven-game goal drought. He is third on the team in markers behind only Matthew Barbolini and P.J. Fletcher.
— Daskas’ tally was his second of the season, with his other coming opening night at Ferris State. He has three points in 2023-24, with two coming against North Dakota.
— Bajzer earned his first collegiate point on his first-period assist. It was just the second game he has dressed this season, and he only logged a couple shifts in his debut last Saturday.
— The other three 0-1-1’s were all defenseman — Cox, Kumlin and Rihards Simanovics.
Kumlin has earned three assists in his last three games. It was the second career points for Simanovics, a freshman, with his other also coming against North Dakota.
And Cox — who scored his lone goal against UND in November — notched his first helper since Nov. 10 vs. Colorado College.
— Miami’s three-goal second period was its best offensive outburst in that frame since Dec. 10, 2022 vs. St. Cloud State.
— The RedHawks blocked 28 shots vs. eight for North Dakota.
— One pro-North Dakota: Gaber and Blake both had three points, and Gaber scored his 12th career goals against MU.
— One anti-Miami: Miami has not won a home overtime game since Feb. 23, 2017, with Gordie Green recording the GWG.
ANALYSIS: As I was walking down the stairs to the Cady Arena lobby minutes after yet another enema-with-a-beer-bottle, which so many Miami fans have become far to accustomed, a pair of RedHawks fans were having a walking disagreement with a third single Miami fan, a ‘2’ on a 1-to-10-scale level of heatedness.
I couldn’t quite hear what the jab the first pair irked the single fan with, but it was something about choking away a lead and/or tied to the RedHawks’ impotence in recent years.
‘You should be proud of them’ is the one stand-out phrase the single fan retorted.
‘Difference of opinion’ was the response from one of the pair, and the two parties separated in the exodus.
From a Miami perspective, that sums this game up better than any dramatized prose could.
Should fans be proud of a RedHawks team that took the second-best team in Division I to overtime with just 11 healthy forwards — missing two-thirds of its top line — the starting goalie and a key defenseman out, leaving Miami with just 21 healthy bodies to fill out a 21-person lineup card?
Absolutely.
Miami’s effort in this game was arguably its best of the season. Last Saturday this team played at nearly the same level despite missing most of the same key cogs.
But…Miami was up two after two, life was swell. An hour later, we’re doing the walk of shame to the parking garage.
Paying fans have watched Miami squander multi-goal leads ad nauseum for nearly a decade and have earned their RedHawks cynicism card after watching would-be wins turn into ‘Ls’ way too often since MU last advanced to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in 2015.
So both parties are right.
Miami should be proud of how well it played in this game, with many skaters logging way more minutes than usual, skating with first-time linemates, punching up in terms of the depth chart and playing in some cases playing out of position.
And while the RedHawks have no reason to be ashamed of the ultimate outcome — an overtime loss to the second-ranked team in Division I — it’s still fair to point out Miami’s woeful ability to close out wins in recent history.
— North Dakota’s ability to move the puck was superior to that of any Miami opponent this season, and it was amazing how many times the Fighting Hawks were able to hold contested pucks at the offensive point in the zone.
The talent and depth of this team will make it a very tough out in the NCAAs.
— Cheers to the Cady Arena maintenance crew. A pane of glass was shattered midway through the third period, and it slid a new one in and play resumed less than 10 minutes later.
In the early days of this rink a broken panel caused a delay of 15-25 minutes.
LINEUP CHANGES: None.
GRADES
FORWARDS: A-. It’s one of those games where you could make a positive statement about every player on the ice. This corps accounted for all four goals, three assists, and somehow dominated in the faceoff circle despite missing multiple centers. Daskas’ effort was incredible, as he capitalized on the extra ice time.
DEFENSEMEN: B+. Despite the constant juggling of pairings, the blueliners have been much better overall since the calendar flipped to 2024. North Dakota generated its scoring chances, but most of its goals came from outside and the Fighting Hawks were limited to a couple of odd-man rushes. All three assists were on outstanding plays — Kumlin fired a puck 100-plus feet along the boards to create a Waldron breakaway, Cox split two defenders with his feed that sent Bajzer alone for the first Miami goal, and Simanovics somehow batted a bouncing puck at knee level from the left point to Sullivan behind the UND goal, leading to the Nilsson goal. Robby Drazner played one of his best games of the season.
GOALTENDING: C+. Yes, Bruveris made some great saves, including one on a one-time rip from the right side of the net in third period, but the high slot was his kryptonite in this game, and North Dakota seemed to target and expose the glove side.
STANDINGS: Miami slipped to 1-13-1 in NCHC play but earned its sixth league point. The RedHawks are last in the league, 12 points clear of the field.
Following all games on Friday, MU is ranked No. 43 in the PairWise rankings.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I’ve mentioned several times over the years that some of my best memories of Miami hockey were of the 2015 portion of the 2014-15 schedule, when the NCHC was new but the RedHawks won the league.
Every night was must-see hockey, as elite team after elite team came visited Oxford and the quality of play was exceptional as the RedHawks more than held their own, ultimately winning the league championship in Minneapolis.
The 4-4 tie against Minn.-Duluth that winter was one of the best games I’ve ever seen at any level.
Despite the lopsided record disparity between these teams, this game had that same 2015 feel, when points actually mattered for Miami and league scoreboard watching was worthwhile.
And while North Dakota was well represented in terms of fans, as it always is, so was Miami, with a raucous student section primed for this team to return to relevance.
The RedHawks only earned one of three possible points on its home ice Friday, and yet it feels like overall the night was a victory.
Hopefully all Miami fans can agree it’s possible to be proud of this team’s effort and still be disappointed with the ultimate result.
View From the Glass 