Miami is officially down to its last lifeline.
No. 5 North Dakota cruised to a 5-1 win over the RedHawks in Game 1 of the teams’ best-of-3 NCHC quarterfinal round series at Ralph Engelstad Arena on Friday.
Miami is now winless in its last 15 games, tied for the second-longest impotence streak in team history. Down a game to none, the RedHawks must win the next two nights to win the series and extend their season.
Game 2 is at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, and if necessary, Game 3 would be played Sunday at the same time.
RECAP: Miami (7-24-3) was forced to kill a major penalty early in the first period and nearly escaped from that frame unscathed, but a North Dakota slap shot from the high slot by Jake Schmaltz beat RedHawks goalie Logan Neaton with 1.1 seconds remaining to open the scoring.
The Fighting Hawks (25-10-2) went up two 9:23 into the middle stanza when a shot from the blue line caromed off the end boards and was chipped through the crease from the left side of the cage to the right by Garrett Pyke to a streaking Owen McLaughlin, who tapped the loose pick in.
The RedHawks answered 57 seconds later, as Max Dukovac backhanded a feed from behind the North Dakota net to Ryan Sullivan, who buried a one-timer from the slot.
With 4:47 left in the period, the Fighting Hawks’ Riese Gaber picked the far top corner on a hard wrister from the right faceoff dot, making it 3-1.
Less than two minutes into the final frame, UND’s Jackson Blake carried the puck from the left wing into the slot and whipped a wrister past Neaton on the glove side to extend the lead to three.
Jake Livanavage fired home a wrist shot from the high slot to cap the scoring with 14:47 remaining in regulation.
Miami was awarded a five-minute power play for a head shot by Adam Wiebe on Albin Nilsson, but the RedHawks were unable to capitalize.
STATS: Sullivan’s goal was his fifth of the season, surpassing his three-season total at UMass.
It was his first marker in nine games.
Dukovac earned the primary assist for his centering feed, giving him helpers in consecutive games and four points in his last five (1-4-5).
Thomas Daskas extended his points streak to a team-high three games, recording his fourth point in that span (1-3-4).
— Miami’s power play struggles continued, as the RedHawks failed to score for the fourth straight game (0-for-12) and are just 1 of 18 (5.6 percent) in their last six contests.
MU had three power plays spanning nine minutes in this game but generated just five shots on goal.
— The second period continues to give Miami fits, as opponents have scored 10 times in the middle frame in the RedHawks last four games.
MU has allowed at least one tally in the second 20 minutes in 13 of its last 14 contests.
— The RedHawks have not won since Jan. 13, dropping to 0-14-1 since. They also went 15 games without a win Nov. 23, 2018 to Feb. 8, 2019, going 0-11-4 in that span.
Their longest-ever drought was 17 games, an 0-16-1 skid from Dec. 15, 1990 to Feb. 2, 1991 while coach Chris Bergeron was a Miami skater.
It was also the RedHawks’ ninth straight playoff loss, dating back to March 10, 2018.
ANALYSIS: Overall, Miami played better than the score indicated but North Dakota was the superior team and deserved the win.
But there were a couple of “what-if” moments, and it would be interesting to see how the game would have evolved had any one or more of those sequences gone Miami’s way.
Like after playing a fantastic road period against the fifth-ranked team for 19:58.9…then allowing a goal with 1.1 seconds left, giving the Fighting Hawks tons of momentum heading into the first intermission.
Or even earlier, if Miami could have scored on one of its chances after killing off a major penalty.
Same with the second period, when the RedHawks had nearly consecutive power plays but came up empty on both.
Then in the final frame, down four, Miami failed to score on a 5-minute power play. A two-goal outburst and at least the RedHawks could’ve made a game of it late.
Obviously, the final margin was four goals and North Dakota is one of the best teams in college hockey odds are long a break or two would’ve flipped the outcome. But hockey is a game of emotion and momentum, and the longer a game stays close the better the odds are for the underdog.
Winning in this environment is tough enough, and having none of those things go Miami’s way made it even tougher.
At least the RedHawks came out with intensity, and if they do that again in Game 2, they have a fighting chance to pull off an upset.
— Didn’t like the head shot by Wiebe on Nilsson, and kudos to Bergeron and co. for calling for a review and to the officials for giving Wiebe five and a game.
Definitely concerned about Nilsson, who went down the tunnel after the hit and did not return.
It’s yet another bad break for Nilsson, who missed the first half of the season with a knee injury and suffered another head shot earlier in this calendar year at Cady Arena.
— A big storyline was Miami goalie-turned-Fighting Hawk Ludvig Persson getting scratched late due to illness in favor of freshman Hobie Hedquist.
Hedquist had appeared in just four games this season and logged 203 previous minutes in net, but he stopped 23 of 24 RedHawks shots to improve to 4-0.
LINEUP CHANGES: Bergeron stuck with the same 19 skaters for the third straight game, as Zane Demsey and Brayden Morrison were healthy scratches for the third and fourth consecutive contests, respectively.
Neaton has started three of four games since returning from his ankle injury.
FINAL THOUGHTS: It’s single elimination time for Miami, and hopefully the RedHawks embrace that up-against-the-proverbial-wall mentality and throw everything they have at North Dakota in Game 2 and hopefully beyond.
MU has no one to blame but itself for the position it’s in, but the RedHawks still put up a solid fight in Game 1, and if they play at a do-or-die level and get a bounce or two, they could make this a long weekend for the Fighting Hawks.
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