Thorimbert, second line ignite CC to win over St. Cloud State

On a night when Colorado College altered its top line, it got the same level of consistency from an underappreciated second unit. Plus, Josh Thorimbert was as solid as ever in goal.

Alexander Krushelnyski, Nick Dineen and Scott Winkler scored, and Thorimbert stopped 32 shots, as No. 8 CC took the first step toward recapturing much-needed momentum for the stretch run Friday with a 3-1 victory against St. Cloud State at World Arena.

CHECK OUT PHOTOS FROM THE GAME!

A revamped look gave the Tigers (13-7-1, 10-5 Western Collegiate Hockey Association) the spark they required coming off a 3-1 loss and a 3-3 tie against No. 9 Cornell in which they experienced difficulty in employing their run-and-gun style because of the bruising, defensive mindset of the Big Red. They found much more room to maneuver against St. Cloud State, and the Huskies (8-11-4, 5-7-3) didn’t dictate the tempo until it was too late.

“I think we’re starting to click a lot better now,” Krushelnyski said about the second line, adding that they “try to come in every night and battle and compete and bring something to the table. Part of that is consistency. That’s something we’ve definitely improved on.”

“Usually, they’re checking the top two lines, so they have a big responsibility there. But they contributed five-on-five goals, which was huge,” said CC coach Scott Owens, whose team won on a Friday at home for the first time in four tries to stay third in the WCHA, four points behind No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth and two points in back of No. 5 Minnesota.

No doubt, the plan for St. Cloud State, featuring overhauled lines as well due to injuries and players who have recently quit the team, was to focus on containing Jaden and Rylan Schwartz. Changes prompted by a lack of scoring (CC was 1-2-1 with seven goals since the holiday break) moved William Rapuzzi from the top line in place of Dakota Eveland, who meshed well – even created some chances – alongside CC’s leading point producers.

The Tigers also switched their defensive pairings, necessitated by a left knee injury that Eamonn McDermott suffered this week in practice, as Joe Marciano took McDermott’s spot and Arthur Bidwill cracked the ice. Overshadowed was the continued production of CC’s second line, with Winkler marking an assist on Krushelnyski’s first-period goal and Krushelnyski assisting when Dineen beat Ryan Faragher (6-9-3) later in the period.

Perhaps most important, CC’s forwards (especially Dineen and David Civitarese) showed a renewed effort to providing support for Thorimbert, to getting in the dirty areas, and the Tigers totaled 21 blocked shots. They withstood a flurry following a second in which St. Cloud State got within 2-1 on Nick Jensen’s power-play goal and had a goal disallowed, and CC atoned for a 33-26 deficit in shots by killing all three of its penalties in the third.

“I caught a few breaks – pucks loose and bouncing off to the side,” said Thorimbert, who improved to 8-3 with a denial of Nick Oliver on a third-period breakaway, then aided by Winkler’s empty-net goal with five seconds left. He added, “I love the high-shot games because it keeps you in it, and it keeps you focused. The play is buzzing, and you’ve got to be sharp. … Playing a lot has given me a lot of confidence, and I feel good out there.”

COLORADO COLLEGE 3, ST. CLOUD STATE 1

St. Cloud State           0          1          0 – 1

Colorado College       2          0          1 – 3

First period – 1. CC, Krushelnyski 6 (Boivin, Winkler), 8:19. 2. CC, Dineen 12 (Krushelnyski, Stoykewych), 15:20. Penalties – Oliver, St. Cloud State (hooking), 15:20. Gravel, St. Cloud State (roughing), 15:20. Dineen, CC (roughing), 15:20. Eddy, St. Cloud State (tripping), 19:23.

Second – 3. St. Cloud State, Jensen 5 (Prochno, Thorson), 14:04 (pp). Penalties – Dowd, St. Cloud State (slashing), 10:37. Boivin, CC (tripping), 12:08.

Third – 4. CC, Winkler 5 (J. Schwartz, Bidwill), 19:54 (en). Penalties – Boivin, CC (cross-checking), 0:56. Oliver, St. Cloud State (holding), 3:32. Krushelnyski, CC (holding), 5:32. Dineen, CC (tripping), 16:57.

Shots on goal – St. Cloud State 6-13-14-33. CC 14-7-5-26. Power-play opportunities – St. Cloud State 1 of 4. CC 0 of 4. Goalies – St. Cloud State, Faragher 12-7-4 (25 shots-23 saves). CC, Thorimbert 6-12-14 (33-32). Attendance – 6,736. Time – 2:20. Referees – Jonathan Morrison, Tom Sterns. Linesmen – Bob Keltie, Stephen Stankevich.

Contact Brian Gomez: 719-636-0256 or brian.gomez@gazette.com. Facebook: Brian Gomez. Twitter: @gazettehockey. Google+: Brian Gomez. YouTube: Colorado College Hockey, Covered by The Gazette. For the CC hockey homepage, visit www.gazette.com/sections/sports/cchockey. For the CC hockey blog, visit http://cchockey.freedomblogging.com.