Tyler Coffey and
Stanley Cooley scored in the third period and
Matt Vernon had 21 saves on Saturday, but 11
th-ranked St. Cloud State completed a weekend sweep with a 6-2 victory over Colorado College Saturday at the National Hockey Center.
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Veeti Miettinen, Sam Hentges and Micah Miller each posted a goal and an assist for the Huskies, while David Hrenak stopped 18 shots.
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After allowing three power-play goals in a 4-1 loss Friday night, the Tigers had trouble staying out of the penalty box early on Saturday, getting whistled for four penalties in the first period.
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Miettinen capitalized on one of them and opened the scoring with a power-play goal at the 9:15 mark of the first. CC goalie
Matt Vernon thought he had stopped Miettinen's shot from the right dot, but the puck squirted through Vernon's legs for the Huskies' fourth power-play tally of the weekend.
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Hunter McKown had a great chance to even things up midway through the period, but his wrister from the high slot rang off the crossbar.
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Kevin Fitzgerald doubled the lead for St. Cloud State with a 4-on-4 goal at 15:12 of the first. His shot from the slot deflected off a CC defender's skate and into the net past Vernon.
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The Huskies (17-11-4, 9-9-4 NCHC) added a pair of goals in the second period. Josh Luedtke took a drop pass from Miettinen and fired a wrist shot past Vernon 3:02 into the frame, then Miller deflected a shot from Kyler Kupka while moving in front of Vernon.
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The Tigers, who attempted nine shots through the first two periods, clawed back into the game with a pair of goals 26 seconds apart in the third period. Coffey started things by finishing off a 2-on-1 with
Patrick Cozzi at 8:28 of the final frame for his 10
th goal of the season.
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Cooley then scored his fourth of the year by deflecting a shot by McKown past Hrenak at the 8:54 mark to make it 4-2.
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However, Hentges scored a power-play goal with less than seven minutes remaining to put the Huskies back up by three and Nolan Walker scored an empty-netter with 1:57 remaining in the game.
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St. Cloud State was 2-for-7 on the power play, while the Tigers (9-20-3, 6-15-1 NCHC) were scoreless on five power-play opportunities.
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The Tigers wrap up the regular season next weekend with a home-and-home series against in-state rival Denver. Friday's game is at Robson Arena, followed by a Senior Night ceremony, while Saturday's contest will be at Magness Arena in Denver.