DULUTH, Minn. — Freshman winger Scott Winkler picked an extremely good time to score his first collegiate goal, with 5:17 left in the third period to break a 3-3 tie, and the Tigers added an empty-netter for a 5-3 win over Minnesota-Duluth in Game 2 of the best-of-three series.
The Tigers (19-16-3) and Bulldogs (21-16-1) play again tonight, with the winner advancing to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five.
Winkler scored during a scramble in front of the Bulldogs’ net after UMD goalie Kenny Reiter, who finished with 26 saves, made a couple of sprawling stops.
CC freshman goalkeeper Joe Howe stopped 37 shots, including all 19 he faced in the third period.
Nick Dineen, who had two assists, including one on Winkler’s game-winner, got the empty-net goal with 15.1 seconds left.
The Tigers erased a 1-0 deficit with second-period goals by Tyler Johnson and Addison DeBoer just 57 seconds apart.
