Nineteen seconds remained between Miami and a tie in its NCHC opener.
But Grant Ahcan scored in the final moments of overtime as No. 12 St. Cloud State edged the RedHawks, 3-2 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Friday.
RECAP: St. Cloud State (7-3) jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period-plus.
Ahcan fought off Miami defender Dylan Moulton and thrusted a one-handed shot past Miami goalie Ethan Dahlmeir on a shorthanded semi-breakaway to open the scoring midway through the first period to give the Huskies an early lead.
Austin Burnevik snuck a bad-angle shot through Dahlmeir from the right boards 95 seconds into the middle frame to extend SCSU’s advantage to two.
Less than six minutes later, Miami’s Max Dukovac tipped a left-point Moulton shot past Huskies goalie Isak Posch from the slot to cut the RedHawks’ deficit to one.
MU (3-6-2) tied the score at two with 5:03 remaining in that stanza, as Colby Ambrosio drove the net from the left wing and slid a partially-deflected pass through the top of the crease that a charging Matt Choupani was hammer just under the crossbar.
But after a scoreless third period, Ahcan carried the puck across the slot and whipped a shot past Dahlmeir on the glove side with 19 seconds remaining in overtime to win it.
STATS: Choupani netted his fifth goal of the season, two clear of all Miami skaters.
Dukovac recorded his second tally of 2024-25 and his fourth point.
Ambrosio earned an assist, as he and Choupani simultaneously became the first Miami players this season to reach double digits in points, as both have 10.
Moulton picked up a helper as well, his second of the season with both coming in the last three games, as he has already tied his 2023-24 total.
Defenseman Conner Hutchison also tallied an assist, his fourth of the season, tying him with Michael Quinn for the team lead among blueliners.
— For the eighth time in 11 games, the penalty kill was perfect, finishing 4 of 4 and improving to 92.9 percent. That’s tied for fourth-best in Division I, and Miami has faced multiple extended 5-on-3s and four major kills.
— But the power play not only went 0-for-3 and the RedHawks burped up their third shorthanded tally of the season, the second-worst total in college hockey. Only Air Force has allowed more SHGs (4).
— Miami was 21-38 on faceoffs (.356) and lost every draw in the 3-on-3 overtime, when puck possession is paramount. Overall this season, the RedHawks have been much improved in the faceoff circle.
— In the don’t shoot the messenger department, MU extended its winless streak in this building to 16 games (0-14-2) dating back to the 2018 NCHC playoffs.
— And Miami dropped to 1-12-12 in 3-on-3 overtime since that format was implemented in 2021. The RedHawks have one win in their last 37 OT games dating back to 2018 (1-14-22).
ANALYSIS: Miami finished 3-5-2 in non-conference play, and it certainly felt like after a 2-0-2 start, the program had progressed faster than expected, but five losses in the final six games of OOC play was humbling.
There was a lot of good to take out those 10 games from a team that hasn’t finished with a winning percentage above .280 since 2019-20, but MU’s recent slump raised a consequential question:
If Miami was only good enough to compile a .400 winning percentage against five non-conference opponents that will all likely end up in the bottom quadrant of the PairWise, what was going to happen when the RedHawks enter league play?
Miami answered, and it nearly beat the 12th-ranked team in college hockey.
Friday was obviously only one game, but for nearly 65 minutes, MU showed it can hang with a ranked team in its own building, one the RedHawks haven’t won in during the regular season since 2013.
The bad turnovers, the carrying the puck through four skaters, the poor fundamentals that overshadowed much of the good during Miami’s out-of-conference games were all major concerns heading into the NCHC slate, but the RedHawks largely cleaned up all of those areas.
Miami hockey took a major step forward on Friday. It didn’t show up in the standings, but this effort definitely advanced the program and will pay dividends in the future.
— If you like goaltending, this game was a dopamine high. Posch and Dahlmeir both made several incredible saves, which is why only five total goals were scored.
— Dukovac was a force all game, and it wasn’t clear from the camera angles provided how he scored Miami’s first goal, but even if it was luck, Posch twice denied him on high-quality chances.
— Playing in just his second game this season, D Nick Donato logged extensive minutes on the penalty kill and was excellent in that role.
— Dahlmeir should’ve stopped the second goal, scored on a bad angle, but he outstanding overall despite a 20 of 23 save total. He’s looking like Miami’s goalie of the future.
STANDINGS: After one night of conference play, the RedHawks sit in a tie for fifth place in the NCHC, tied with Arizona State, with both having earned a point for advancing to overtime.
Miami dropped to No. 52 in the way-too-early PairWise rankings.
LINEUP CHANGES: Artur Turansky dressed in place of Tanyon Bajzer, who played in six of Miami’s first 10 games.
The RedHawks went with the same seven defensemen, and Dahlmeir was in net for the third time in four games.
FINAL THOUGHTS: This was yet another tough loss for Miami fans, who have seen the RedHawks squander a lifetime’s worth of games in overtime over the past few years.
But showing that this team can hold its own against a league opponent on the road has to fill its fanbase with optimism.
View From the Glass 