WCHA Final Five Title Game
March 20, 2004
ST. PAUL, Minn - This one needed little buildup.
It was North Dakota - ranked No. 1 in the voting polls, the Pairwise and the regular-season WCHA champions - against arch-rival Minnesota, the two-time defending NCAA national champion who is ranked in the top four of both polls for the championship of the 2004 Red Baron WCHA Final Five.
Fans arrived again in record numbers to the Xcel Energy Center expecting a beauty of a game. And they got it.
This one had it all: A WCHA record crowd of 19,306 saw 77 combined shots on goal, superb playmaking, great goaltending, heavy checks, four ties and three lead changes.
But in the end it was Grant Potulny's goal in the third period that lifted Minnesota to a thrilling 5-4 win over North Dakota.
Both Minnesota (26-13-3) and North Dakota (28-7-2) are virtually assured of a one or two seed in the NCAA Tournament, which starts next week. The pairings for the tournament will be announced at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
But for now, it's the Gophers who can claim some championship hardware.
A power play goal put the Gophers up 1-0 at the 10:39 mark of the first period. As they did so effectively Friday night in the semifinals, the Gophers worked the puck around the top before a defenseman, in this case Chris Harrington, sent it low. Gino Guyer then worked it across the crease where it went by one Minnesota player before getting one-timed by Danny Irmen past sprawling UND goalie Jake Brandt. It was Irmen's 13th goal of the season.
The Fighting Sioux came back to tie it on a great pass and tip in by and Drew Stafford at 16:57. On the power play, Zach Parise charged up the right side and fired a centering pass to Stafford, who had a Golden Gopher wrapped all over him. Somehow, Stafford got enough of the puck to get it past UM goalie Kellen Briggs. Parise got the lone assist on Stafford's 11th goal of the season.
The Gophers got the better part of the first period and held a 17-8 advantage in shots on goal, but the teams went into the first intermission tied 1-1.
The play was up-and-down to start the second, and it was Minnesota who gained a 2-1 lead at 4:09. The play was along the boards and North Dakota tried to clear. But the puck was kept in the zone by Peter Kennedy, and he let a shot go that Brandt stopped. However, the rebound came out long and there was no defense to cover Jon Waibel, who got the puck past the downed Sioux goalie. It was Waibel's fifth goal of the season and Kennedy got the lone assist.
Then at 6:54 the Gophers appeared to get a big leg up in this one. Waibel trailed a play as Barry Tallackson charged to the net from the left. Tallackson got a shot off and crashed into Brandt. Meanwhile, Waibel found the net, but the play was reviewed and the goal disallowed because it was ruled Tallackson was in the crease.
Two minutes later at 8:50 the Fighting Sioux got even on the scoreboard 2-2. Parise saw the puck come free to the left of the cage and he tried to pull it in and make a move. But the puck got away and went to the end boards, as did Parise. Somehow, the UND sophomore managed to flip the puck into the crease, where Brandon Bochenski got just enough of it to get it into the net. It was Bochenski's 25th goal of the season, Parise got the lone assist ... and this was a new hockey game.
North Dakota then took its first lead, 3-2, at 16:47 on yet another great move by Parise. A shot came in on Briggs and there was a bit of traffic that knocked it around. Parise was about 12 feet from the net with his back to Briggs, yet he spun and fired it through defenseman Harrington's legs and beat Briggs low to the stick side. Nick Fuher and Bochenski got the assists on Parise's 22nd goal of the season.
Brandt help keep the Sioux in the lead with a couple very good saves late in the period, and North Dakota led 3-2 after 40 minutes. The Fighting Sioux had a 19-8 edge in shots on goal in the period as the Sioux offense was buzzing.
But it would be Thomas Vanek who would even this game 3-3 with a goal at 2:08 of the third period. Vanek picked off a pass near the faceoff dot in the Sioux end and walked in on Brandt. One could almost feel for Brandt as Vanek made a nifty move to his forehand and scored into the yawning net. His 24th goal of the season was unassisted.
The Gophers then gained a 4-3 lead on a great play by Troy Riddle. He caught the puck out of mid-air near the goal mouth after a shot from the point by Harrington, dropped it and somehow whacked it past Brandt at 4:48 of the third. Matt Koalska, who won the faceoff in the Sioux zone, got the second assist on Riddle's 23rd goal of the season.
So, when the Sioux were called for a slashing penalty with just more than 12 minutes to go, it looked dire, considering the effectiveness of the Gophers power play lately. But Bochenski rescued the Sioux and knotted the game 4-4 with a short-handed goal at 9:18 of the third. He absolutely toasted a Gopher defender before beating Briggs with a nifty backhand move.
It stayed that way until 13:58 when the Gophers got a sneaky one past Brandt - but it would be the game winner. Grant Potulny found the puck behind the Sioux net and tried to do one of those stuff moves. But instead of getting between the post and the skate, Potulny got it between the 5-hole for his 15th goal of the season. Irmen got the lone assist on the game-winner.
The Gophers took a penalty, and with more than 4 minutes to play UND coach Dean Blaise pulled Brandt for the extra attacker during the power play. But, when the power play expired, Brandt skated back into the net.
Late in the game the Sioux also pulled Brandt, but this time they could not gain a good scoring chance and time expired, giving the Gophers the title by a goal.
Minnesota also led on the shot clock 39-38. Minnesota was 1-for-4 on the
power play while North Dakota was 1-for-5.
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