TAMPA, Fla. -- People used to winters on the northern plains know a little bit about weathering storms. It was that ability that got North Dakota a trip to the NCAA title game.
Nick Schmaltz scored the game-winner for North Dakota in the final minute Thursday, sparking the Fighting Hawks to a 4-2 victory over Denver in the semifinals of the NCAA Frozen Four.
North Dakota (33-6-4) will play Quinnipiac (32-3-7) for the national championship on Saturday. The Bobcats beat Boston College 3-2 in the other semifinal.
The Fighting Hawks led 2-0 after a pair of Drake Caggiula goals in the second period, only to see Denver rally to forge a tie.
Related
Schmaltz scored on a backhander from the top of the crease with less than 57 seconds remaining, sending North Dakota to the NCAA final for the first time in more than a decade.
Rhett Gardner added an empty-net goal with 1.8 seconds to play for the Hawks, who last played for the NCAA crown in 2005.
North Dakota Hawks got 21 saves from goalie Cam Johnson.
"It was a great college hockey game, and it's what we expected," Denver coach Jim Montgomery said. "When North Dakota and Denver play, it's great hockey, and I had said two days ago the team that's going to win is the team that makes the last play. North Dakota made the last play."
Defensemen Will Butcher and Matt VanVoorhis scored third-period goals for Denver (25-10-6), which controlled much of the play after falling behind by two goals. Pioneers goalie Tanner Jaillet finished with 19 saves.
The winner came off a faceoff to the left of Jaillet. Caggiula's shot was blocked by Denver defenseman Nolan Zajac, who could not clear the loose puck. Schmaltz got possession and backhanded it past the goalie low on the blocker side.
"I thought we got away from our game a little bit early in the third period there, and when you do that against a good team, they're going to make you pay, and that's what Denver did," Schmaltz said. "I thought we regrouped pretty well. On our bench, everyone was staying positive and everyone was confident in our team."
The opening period was scoreless with each team getting four shots, but it wasn't devoid of action. Both teams' defenders did an impressive job of blocking and deflecting shots despite multiple rushes to the net.
North Dakota broke the deadlock 1:03 into the middle period. Caggiula, skating hard into the offensive zone without the puck, split a pair of Denver defenders, then took a pass from Brock Boeser in the high slot. Coming in alone on Jaillet, Caggiula got off a rising shot that beat the goalie on the stick side.
Caggiula doubled the lead 5:12 later, taking advantage of a turnover by Pioneers top line left winger Trevor Moore. Attempting to pass across the defensive zone, Moore saw his pass intercepted by Caggiula, who beat Jaillet low on the short side.
"Our message going into the third period was to keep our foot on the gas. The only problem was we stopped making plays for a little bit," said North Dakota coach Brad Berry, who is in his first season behind the bench for his alma mater. "I thought we started the game a little slow and a little tentative. ... In the second period, we got back to making plays and moving the puck north."
The Pioneers finally solved Johnson early in the third period on a quick shot off a faceoff. Matt Marcinew won the draw to the right of the North Dakota goal, and Grant Arnold got the puck to Butcher at the top of the circle. Butcher's quick wrist shot eluded Johnson on the blocker side. It was the third goal of the NCAA playoffs for Butcher.
"We're never going to give up no matter what the score is," said Arnold, the Pioneers' captain. "It could have been 5-0 in the third, we would have come out with a ton of fire regardless. That's just Denver hockey."
Denver got a fortunate bounce to tie the game in the latter half of the third period. Skating along the near boards, VanVoorhis shot the puck toward the net just as North Dakota defenseman Gage Ausmus went down in an attempt to block it. The puck deflected off the shaft of Ausmus' stick and caromed between Johnson's pads.
NOTES: On the ice at Amalie Arena near the penalty box doors are the initials BM and the number 12 in honor of Oliver "Butch" Mousseau, a long-time college hockey official who died in March as a result of an on-ice accident. Mousseau, 47, was warming up prior to a game in Michigan when he fell and struck his head on the ice. He died a week later from the head injury. ... Denver was playing in the Frozen Four for the first time since 2005, when the Pioneers beat North Dakota for the NCAA title in Columbus, Ohio. ... The last five Frozen Fours have been played in eastern cities (Tampa, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and Tampa again), but the event returns to the Midwest for the next two years, with Chicago hosting in 2017 and St. Paul, Minn., in 2018. ... North Dakota scrapped its former "Fighting Sioux" nickname several years ago under pressure from the NCAA, but many of the thousands of North Dakota fans in attendance still wear apparel with the old nickname, and the "Let's Go Sioux" chant was heard in the arena several times Thursday.
