BEMIDJI, Minn. - [box score] Bemidji State’s men’s ice hockey team dominated all facets of the game except the scoreboard, out-shooting the Wayne State Warriors 50-14 but managing just a 3-2 victory tonight. The win moves BSU to 3-0-0 in College Hockey America play, marking the first time in the history of the league the Beavers have opened conference play with three consecutive wins.

BSU thoroughly dominated the first period from start to finish, out-shooting the Warriors 22-5. The Beavers grabbed a two-goal lead in the period, behind a power-play goal from Riley Riddell just 1:20 into the contest and the second goal of the season from Jared Hanowski at 6:24.

But at 14:30 of the first, Wayne State got the first of its two bad-bounce goals in the game. Nathan Rosychuck flipped a puck towards the net, and it deflected off of BSU defenseman Anders Olsson as he attempted to clear the puck and it squirted past BSU goaltender Grady Hunt and into the net. The goal left the Warriors trailing by just a goal at the first intermission despite allowing 17 more shots than they attempted.

The second period was more of the same, with BSU out-shooting Wayne state 13-4 and holding the Warriors without a shot for the first 16:30 of the period. BSU needed just 1:44 of the second to grab a 3-1 lead, as Olsson scored on a power-play for his first goal of the season with assists from Riddell and Ryan Huddy.

But again, Wayne State would get a goal late in the period to cut BSU’s lead to one goal. BSU had a defensive breakdown in its zone and left Mark Cannon alone at the edge of the crease. He took a pass from behind the net from Travis Rycroft and shoved the puck past Hunt to pull the Warriors within a goal, 3-2.

Wayne State remained a goal down at the second intermission, and couldn’t mount a comeback in a very quickly-played, but uneventful, third period. BSU out-shot Wayne State 15-5 in the third, but neither team scored and neither team drew a penalty. The Warriors pulled goaltender Matt Kelly with 36 seconds to play, but were unable to force the extra period.

“In the first period, we played good hockey,” BSU head coach Tom Serratore said. “But as the game went on they [Wayne State] picked up their intensity.”

Wayne State’s 14 shots on net are tied for second-fewest allowed by a BSU team since making the move to Division I in 1999, and BSU’s 22 shots in the first period are the program’s third-most in a period in its Division I era. BSU reached 50 shots in a game for just the third time as a Division I program; its 50 shots tonight tied for second-most since 1999.

BSU has now gone five consecutive games without allowing more than 20 shots, and has yet to yield more than 26 shots in a home game. For the season, BSU is now out-shooting its opponents by a margin of 480-307 - an average of more than 13 shots per game.

Hunt saved 12 of 14 shots faced to earn his fith win of the season. He did not face more than five shots in a period. Wayne State’s Matt Kelly earned second-star honors after a 47-save performance. After allowing two goals in the first period, Kelly was 28-for-29 (.966).

BSU went 2-for-6 on the power play, giving it back-to-back games with two or more power play goals for the first time since Jan. 24-25, 2003 at Air Force. Wayne State was 0-for-4 with the man advantage and falls to 6-for-84 (.071) all-time against BSU on the power-play.

Junior forward Andrew Murray went down at 2:08 of the third period on a play away from the puck and had to be helped off the ice. Post-game prognosis has BSU’s first-line center out with a broken ankle and facing a two-month recovery period.

“This will be a good test to see what we can do without our best player,” Serratore said.

Tonight’s win snapped a three-game losing streak in the series for BSU and improved the Beavers to 8-5-3 all-time against the Warriors. BSU has dominated the series in Bemidji, and how holds a 6-2-1 advantage.

Bemidji State improves to 6-5-2 with the win, 3-0-0 in the CHA, while Wayne State drops to 3-6-3 and 1-4-0 in the league. The Beavers and Warriors wrap up their two-game series tomorrow night with a 7:05 p.m. opening faceoff at the John Glas Fieldhouse.

NOTES: BSU has scored a power-play goal in nine consecutive games, extending its Division I-era record... Since starting the season 0-for-22 with the man advantage, BSU is 12-for-52 (.231) on the power play... Riley Riddell had 1-1=2 points, his 15th career multi-point game; fifth career power-play goal... Anders Olsson had his fifth career multi-point game (1-1=2 points) and scored his first career game-winning goal; fourth career power-play goal... Grady Hunt 4-1-1 vs Wayne State in Bemidji.
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