歪歪漫画

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Three weeks ago in Denver, Minnesota Duluth found itself on the right side of a dramatic come-from-behind finish.

Friday, Dec. 7, in Kalamazoo, Mich., a banged-up Bulldogs team found out what it felt like to be on the wrong side.

Western Michigan senior center Colt Conrad found an open corner of the visitor鈥檚 net with 9.9 seconds left Friday night to give his Broncos a 3-2 NCHC victory over fourth-ranked UMD at Lawson Ice Arena.

UMD sophomore defenseman Scott Perunovich - who scored the game-tying goal in Denver with 1.8 seconds left - had just seconds earlier made what appeared to be a game-saving block minus his stick, but the puck popped back out to the shooter, junior defenseman Cam Lee.

Lee backhanded the puck to Conrad, who was wide open on the backside for the game-winner against a Bulldogs team that finished the night minus three of its top six forwards.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 really look into the injuries. We have a full team that can play no matter who is out,鈥� UMD sophomore center Justin Richards said. 鈥淲e just have to take this one. It hurts a little bit. We just have to channel it the right way and be pissed off tomorrow and come out and play 60 minutes.鈥�

The Bulldogs started the night minus their top two right wings - Nick Swaney and Parker Mackay - due to injury, and by the end of the second, they lost senior top-line center Peter Krieger as well.

Swaney, a sophomore on the top line, was ruled out for the entire weekend earlier in the week after getting injured during the second period of last Saturday鈥檚 loss to North Dakota.

Mackay, the senior captain and team鈥檚 leading goal-scorer, suffered a lower-body injury in practice this week, though he did make the trip to Kalamazoo.

Krieger suffered a lower-body injury just before the midway point of the second period when he was squeezed hard along the boards on a power-play zone entry. He attempted to finish the power play before limping off the ice, and even tested what appeared to be an injured leg during a media timeout before heading to the locker room.

Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin only offered a 鈥渨e鈥檒l see鈥� after the loss on whether Mackay or Krieger will be available for today鈥檚 6:05 p.m. rematch. If neither can go, the Bulldogs will be short a forward.

鈥淲e had some guys that stepped up, we had some guys that didn鈥檛,鈥� Sandelin said. 鈥淏ottom line is we have to get ready to play tomorrow no matter who is in there.鈥�

One of those Bulldogs who did step up Friday was freshman center Jesse Jacques of Hermantown. He tied the game at 1-1 with his first collegiate goal, burying a puck that sophomore defenseman Matt Anderson threw toward the Broncos鈥� crease with 1:08 to go before the first intermission.

Jacques started the night alongside junior center-turned-wing Jade Miller and sophomore wing Kobe Bender of Cloquet before finishing between sophomore wing Kobe Roth and freshman wing Tanner Laderoute.

鈥淓very game is a big opportunity,鈥� said Jacques, who was only making his seventh appearance of the season. He and Miller have been rotating as the fourth-line center. 鈥淚 just want to try and battle to earn a spot. I do it everyday.

鈥淲ith Krieger going out, that doesn鈥檛 help our team, but we got to keep our minds focused and keep battling.鈥�

Richards gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead that they took into the third period, scoring with 2:47 to play in the second by putting away a rebound that popped in his direction. That 2-1 advantage was erased 55 seconds into the third, though, when junior center Hugh McGing tied the game just seconds after a Broncos鈥� power play expired.

The Bulldogs, who are 9-0 when scoring first this season, fell behind by a goal just over 3 1/2 minutes into the game when sophomore wing Ethan Frank scored his fifth goal of the season for the Broncos.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 play a 60-minute game tonight. We didn鈥檛 start the game on time,鈥� Richards said. 鈥淲e took over in the second period, but they got that goal right as the penalty ended in the third period. That gave them a lot of momentum. I feel like we let up a little bit. The end result is they scored with 10 seconds left.鈥�

Minn. Duluth 1-1-0-1
W. Michigan 1-0-2-3 First period - 1. WMU, Ethen Frank 5 (Paul Washe), 3:39. Penalties - Billy Exell, UMD (holding), 3:39; Jamie Rome, WMU (cross-checking), 10:25.
Second period - 3. UMD, Justin Richards 4 (Mikey Anderson, Cole Koepke), 17:17. Penalties - Dawson DiPietro, WMU (tripping), 1:06; Matt Anderson, UMD (hooking), 3:42; Hugh McGing, WMU (hooking), 8:15; McGing, WMU (hooking), 11:14; Wade Allison, WMU (cross checking), 14:10; Mikey Anderson, UMD (tripping), 14:10; Tanner Laderoute, UMD (cross checking), 18:51..
Third period - 4. WMU, McGing 9 (Mattias Samuelsson), 0:55; 5. WMU, Colt Conrad 6 (Cam Lee, Josh Passolt), 19:51. Penalties - Nick Wolff, UMD (hooking), 1:53; Corey Schueneman, WMU (slashing), 17:06.
Shots on goal - UMD 10-7-14-31; WMU 6-5-12-23. Goalies - Hunter Shepard (23 shots-20 saves); Trevor Gorsuch  (31-29). Power plays - UMD 0-of-5; WMU 0-of-4. Referees - Brad Shepard, Joe Sullivan. Linesmen - Brent Gawlik, John Philo. Att. - 2,709.