UND hopes to turn the page after a tough series at Cornell

GRAND FORKS — The Fighting Hawks are headed into conference play 3-4 on the season. 

The Fighting Hawks flew to Ithaca, N.Y., last weekend and lost both games against Cornell (4-1 Friday, 5-3 Saturday). They are 1-3 on the road this season.

But for the Fighting Hawks, going to Duluth could be a blessing. The last time UND lost a game in Amsoil Arena was January 24th, 2020 (7-4).

After a disappointing end to its non-conference games, North Dakota will again look to get back into the win column.

UND will be dealing with injuries again this weekend. Although Cameron Berg is expected to return to the lineup, Fighting Hawks head coach Brad Berry stated that freshman forward Cody Croal, defensemen Bennett Zmolek, Andrew Strathmann, and Tanner Komzak are all expected to miss the games against the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs are also missing their star freshman forward, Max Plante. Plante was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in Round 2, #47. He was injured earlier this season but is expected to return in the next few weeks.

UMD forward Jack Smith, a fourth-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens, is projected to miss this weekend's series against UND, too.

With three UND defensemen absent, junior forward Dane Montgomery has stepped into a dynamic role. Last weekend, he recorded an assist while playing defense for UND. 

“He's done amazing,” UND forward Dylan James said when asked about Montgomery's role on the team this season. “Bubbs (Brad Berry) can put him anywhere, and he trusts him in that position, but he's done really good.”

Montgomery has had success in Duluth before. In February 2022, he scored his first career goal against the Bulldogs.

Both Berry and James talked highly of the role that Montgomery has taken on for the Fighting Hawks. For Montgomery (who was recruited to UND, and has played games as a forward), playing forward for most of his career has given him an edge as a defenseman now.

“I think that's just a little instincts from playing forward,” Montgomery said. “But ultimately, just trying to find those times when to jump, when to stay back, has been a learning curve for me, but I think definitely playing forward, I have a little bit more instincts of that trying to get in the open slot area there and jump into plays after and make a play.”

Berry talked about how well Montgomery is adapting and how he’ll lean on other players and coaches for advice.

“That's what you like about players that have a growth mindset,” Berry said. “They're not afraid to lean on people or ask people to help them out. And that's what we're here for, helping each other out to try to get better.”

A new series

UND’s series against Cornell is now in the rearview mirror. The Fighting Hawks are now on to NCHC play. Starting the conference play on the right foot will be necessary for North Dakota's NCAA tournament aspirations. UND has not lost an NCHC opener since the 2017-18 season against Colorado College.

“We always talk about being on the road and having a quick start,” Berry said. “Scoring the first goal is always important, but nonetheless, gaining momentum in the first period of doing that, I think discipline is a huge deal.

“I think, just knowing where we're at as a group, you know, with what we have and what we don't have, and playing to your strengths of your game, and believing in each other and staying together, knowing that it's still early in the season here and now we're getting into conference play here, and just keep building trust within our group here and playing the right way.”

Another area of focus for the Fighting Hawks is their ability to keep a lead and momentum.

“Momentum is a big part of the game,” Berry said.  And there's all different ways to get it and all different ways to give the team the other momentum. And we got to make sure that we hold that most of the game, or a majority of the game.”

After back-to-back weekends against top-10 teams, UND will play unranked Minnesota Duluth. Once again, though, the Fighting Hawks aren't putting too much stock into their opponents' rank.

“Is Duluth a really good team? Yeah, 100%. They're in the NCHC,” Berry said. “Anybody in the NCHC is a very good team. And we got to know that it's, it's a blank slate right now. Starting forward here, everybody's at zeros as far as the conference play. This is an opportunity for us to get back to what we need to do to try to get going in the standings here in a 24-game schedule. So, the biggest thing for us is not really looking at a team that's unranked or ranked. It's about doing the things that you have to do to have success on a daily basis.”

Puck drop is slated for 7:07 P.M. CT Friday.

Quick notes

• Earlier this week, UND added former Shakopee High School standout Aleksi Huson due to Kaleb Johnson being sidelined by an injury for the foreseeable future.

• UND is 8-2 against UMD in its last 10 matchups

• UND leads the series 157-89-11