MINNEAPOLIS<\/b> — Senior Amanda Kessel returned to Ridder Arena 1,048 days after she helped Minnesota to the 2013 NCAA championship and contributed a pair of assists for the No. 3 Gophers in their 3-0 victory over No. 8 North Dakota.<\/p>\n
However, she brought even more to the 2,635 fans in attendance just by skating onto the ice after dealing with a concussion since the 2014 Olympics.<\/p>\n
“I woke up this morning, and I was pumped to play,” Kessel said. “It’s been a long road, but it felt great to be back out there on the ice and representing the University of Minnesota.”<\/p>\n
Kessel got her first point of the season on her team’s only power play, when Dani Cameranesi picked up a Kessel rebound behind the goal and fed Hannah Brandt in front.<\/p>\n
In the third period, Kessel found Sophie Skarzynski at the right point, and the freshman’s blast hit the net for her second goal of the season to make it a three-goal lead for the Gophers (25-3-0, 20-3-0-0 WCHA).<\/p>\n
On the night, North Dakota (14-9-4, 11-8-4-2 WCHA) couldn’t find any similar magic.<\/p>\n
“I thought we played well,” UND coach Brian Idalski said. “We executed some things we wanted to do.”<\/p>\n
The problem was the Fighting Hawks didn’t get any reward for their efforts.<\/p>\n
“[Amanda Leveille], in particular in the second period, she shut the door,” Minnesota coach Brad Frost said.<\/p>\n
Leveille stopped all 29 shots the Fighting Hawks put on net for her sixth shutout of the season and the 28th of her career.<\/p>\n
“It’s been a little bit of a grind for us to finish, and I thought that was the story again today,” Idalski said.<\/p>\n
When they did the get puck by Leveille, something interceded.<\/p>\n
“We’re not capitalizing on our opportunities,” UND senior captain Layla Marvin said. “A couple posts tonight, some big scrums out front, and we’re not burying when we get our chance.”<\/p>\n
Marvin clanged a first-period shot loudly off the right post. In the second period, the puck got through Leveille, but a Minnesota defenseman cleared it to a corner.<\/p>\n
“Teams like Minnesota, like they did tonight — we give them one power play and it ends up in the back of our net,” Marvin said.<\/p>\n
For the third straight game, the Gophers had one power-play opportunity, and converted it into a goal, raising their season power-play percentage to 49.3.<\/p>\n
They added insurance when Sydney Baldwin took a return pass from blue line partner Milica McMillen and threaded a shot through to make it 2-0 with 1:25 elapsed in the second period.<\/p>\n
Shelby Amsley-Benzie matched Leveille with 29 saves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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