Miami rallied from two goals down to salvage a 5-5 tie at No. 4 North Dakota on Saturday.
The No. 1 RedHawks trailed, 5-3 entering the third period, but sophomore defenseman Cameron Schilling scored on a hard wrister with 10:33 remaining.
Then freshman forward Reilly Smith beat North Dakota goaltender Brad Eidsness 1-on-1 after taking an incredible set-up pass from junior Andy Miele hit him on the tape in between the faceoff circles with 2:41 to play.
Smith was initially denied by Eidsness, who held the puck out with his right pad, but Smith poked the puck into the net on
Miami (9-2-5) had better scoring chances in overtime, but neither team was able to find the net.
Smith finished with two goals and two assists, becoming the first RedHawk this season to record four points in a game.
Junior forwards Tommy Wingels and Carter Camper netted the other Miami goals. Junior forward Pat Cannone finished with two assists.
Miami has now tied four of its last six games, with one win and one loss in that span.
BOTTOM LINE: Obviously rallying from two down against one of the top teams in the country in its home building is impressive. Both teams showed why they're among college hockey's elite.
I questioned why sophomore Connor Knapp was left in the net after surrendering four second-period goals and five overall, but he recovered and stopped all seven shots he faced in the final 25 minutes.
Coach Enrico Blasi also did not call a timeout at any point during the second period, during which he watched North Dakota (8-4-2) light the lamp four times in 10:23, including a pair of goals 36 seconds apart.
Miami caught a break on Saturday, as No. 2 Denver lost to St. Cloud State. That may preserve the RedHawks' top spot in the polls, although I think it might be best for Miami long-term to drop out of first.
GRADES
FORWARDS: A-. Finally a solid offensive performance. Camper scored three goals on the weekend after an unusually slow start, and Smith had his best game as a Miamian. Plus, Fighting Sioux goaltender Brad Eidsness is incredibly talented, making the four goals Miami's forwards scored even more impressive.
DEFENSEMEN: C-. Held North Dakota to 24 shots, but gave up too many odd-man chances. Schilling's goal was Miami second in eight games by a blueliner.
GOALTENDING: D. Knapp had played very well his last two times out, but he struggled badly in the first two periods. He was slow to react to some of North Dakota's shots, and this was the second time this season Knapp has lost focus during a game.
Knapp struggled at the end of last season, causing then-freshman Cody Reichard to take over in net full-time for the final stretch. Knapp is still very young, and he still has to prove he can handle big games.
LINEUP CHANGES: Blasi only made one change for Saturday: Senior Brandon Smith played in place of senior Dane Hetland.
WHAT THE #@$&*?: Blasi played sophomore Trent Vogelhuber extensively on the power play with Miele and senior Jarod Palmer for some reason on Saturday.
The move cost Miami when Palmer made one his patented have-the-puck-right-on-the-tape-for-a-great-scoring-chance passes, but a wide-open Vogelhuber shot the puck right at Eidsness for an easy save. I can name nine RedHawks off the top of my head that would've scored on that play.
Other than scoring a key goal in the championship game last season, I haven't seen any sign that Vogelhuber is going to be an impact offensive player for Miami. In 14 games, he's currently tied with Reichard, Hetland (who has played five games), and freshmen Devin Mantha and Steve Mason (who've played two games each) in scoring with one point on an assist, and Vogelhuber hasn't even come close to scoring a goal.
Tomassoni played forward on the fourth line again. No shots, no points.
NOT-SO-SPECIAL TEAMS: Miami scored one power play goal in four chances, but the RedHawks allowed their first short-handed goal of the season.
The penalty killing was brutal, surrendering three power play goals on seven chances.
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