TEMPE, Ariz. – Not only did Minnesota Duluth lose the opening game of its NCHC series at No. 19 Arizona State 5-3 on Friday at Mullett Arena, the Bulldogs also lost a second goaltender to injury.

Freshman goaltender Klayton Knapp made his first collegiate appearance against the Sun Devils and stopped 20 of the 24 shots he faced before leaving the game in the third period with a lower-body injury after conceding his fourth goal.

Freshman starter Adam Gajan was unable to play for the Bulldogs on Friday because of an ankle injury he suffered during practice during the bye week. UMD coach Scott Sandelin said it’s possible Gajan could return to the lineup Saturday.

Junior Zach Sandy finished the game in goal for UMD, stopping all three shots he faced in the final 14 minutes of regulation time and will likely make his second start of the season on Saturday.

“It’s hard to see Knapp go down after fighting for us,” said Dominic James, the Bulldogs’ senior captain and top-line center. “It was his first start so we were happy for him, but (Sandy) jumped in straight away and didn’t miss a beat. This means something to us and we’re just as excited to have (Sandy) back in the net and see what he can do for us. He was really good in training. He has a big heart for our team.”

James scored two goals and freshman winger Max Plante scored the other goal as UMD fell to 5-9 overall and 2-5 in the NCHC for its third straight loss.

“We can’t take any more moral victory away from this game,” James said. “We have to start getting wins. We have to start getting three points. Whatever it takes to make that happen, we have to do it.”

Friday was Sandy’s first action since the season opener after Gajan started the last 12 games for UMD. Knapp’s only action this season was two substitute appearances for Gajan on November 8th and 9th in home losses to North Dakota.

Teammates praised Knapp for keeping the Bulldogs in the game early, including two or three big saves in the first minute.

“Huge,” James said of Knapp’s saves. “You see it every week in practice. He fights endlessly, so we weren’t too worried about him. You can see that in the game. It can be transferred to the game. He made some important saves for us and really kept the game from getting out of hand.”

UMD’s urgency came too late Friday. The Bulldogs conceded two goals in the span of 1 minute, 52 seconds in the first six minutes of the third period, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 4-1 deficit.

“We took our foot off the gas,” said UMD junior defender and assistant captain Aiden Dubinsky. “We had the momentum almost the whole game, we outran them, gave them more chances and we just can’t afford any mistakes. We should have won that game.”

UMD defeated the Sun Devils 38-28 on Friday, including 12-9 in the third period.

Max Plante and James scored twice in a minute to bring UMD back within one goal, but the urgency came too late for Sandelin, who is tired of being just short of victory.

“We definitely had chances,” Sandelin said. “We have to put in the effort and play with the desperation or the urgency that you saw in the last 10 or 12 minutes. If you do that for 60 minutes, you give yourself a chance to win. This doesn’t mean you will win, but it will give you a chance to win. You can’t wait until you’re down 4-1.”

The Bulldogs failed to capitalize on several Class A scoring opportunities on Friday Sophomore wing Matthew Perkins and junior defenseman Joey Pierce each had a pair of misses in the first two periods of the game.

Junior winger Kyle Bettens was also stopped on a solo break in the second period and freshman winger Harper Bentz was robbed by ASU senior goaltender Luke Pavicich early in the third period.

“You have to persevere, it’s as simple as that,” Sandelin said. “We could have scored four or five goals if the boys gave it their all, but we don’t. You have to keep the chances small. Some games might have two or three, but you have to score on one or two of them. You have to do it.”

Sandelin said the team’s inability to capitalize on scoring opportunities was frustrating.

“You have to be ready,” Sandelin said. “You can’t say, ‘Oh shit.'” If you want to score goals, you have to be ready in these areas. A few times the guys weren’t ready. It’s that simple. Take your chances and it might be a different game. Maybe it will end up being a 7-6 game, I don’t know.”

James scored two of his three first-class chances. Early in the second period he missed his first shot from winger Max Plante to tie the game at 1-1, but late in the second period he sniffed past a shot from Plante.

He fully connected on a puck thrown his way by sophomore winger Anthony Menghini in the third period, bringing the Bulldogs within a goal and redirecting the puck out of the air and into the top of the net.

Max Plante scored his first collegiate goal on Friday After his older brother and fellow freshman forward Zam Plante brought his younger brother on a solo breakaway. Max Plante also had an assist on Friday, giving him five points in four games this season.

Joe Molenaar, the fifth-year senior winger, also sat out Friday after being listed as doubtful later in the week with a lower-body injury.

UMD’s penalty kill got off to a rocky start Friday. The team conceded two goals on its first kill just 8:14 minutes into the game when senior defenseman Owen Gallatin was called for the hook. The first goal was canceled out when Scott Sandelin was successfully ruled out for offside and the clock was turned back by 16 seconds. It took 19 seconds after the break for ASU to score the power play goal.

The Bulldogs finished Friday’s game 1-2 on penalties and 0-1 on the power play.

Arizona State freshman Cullen Potter is the son of former Bulldog Jenny Potter. Cullen Potter was the Sun Devils’ top center on Friday, scoring his fourth goal of the season at 5:15 of the second period to give ASU a 2-1 lead.

Ty Jackson, Ryan Alexander, Dylan Jackson and Sam Court also scored goals for ASU, with Court’s unanswered goal securing the win.

Cullen Potter is only 17 years old and has only played one season in the US Hockey National Team Development Program with the U17 in the 2023-24 season. He left Michigan State to go to college a year early and play for Arizona State.

Jenny Potter is the UMD women’s hockey program’s all-time leading scorer, totaling 256 points in 102 games over three seasons, 1999-2000 and 2002-2004. She was part of UMD’s third consecutive NCAA title in 2003.

The Bulldogs and Sun Devils meet again at 6:00 p.m. CST at Mullett Arena in Tempe. It’s the Bulldogs’ final game before a 24-day holiday break that ends with a New Year’s Eve game at Bemidji State.

Minnesota Duluth 0-1-2-3
Arizona State 1-1-3—5
First period
1. ASU, Ty Jackson (Dylan Jackson, Sam Court), 9:53 (pp)
Second period
2. UMD, Dominic James (Max Plante, Jayson Shaugabay), 0:52
3. ASU, Cullen Potter (Bennett Schimek, Lukas Sillinger), 5:14
Third period
4. ASU, Ryan Alexander (Artem Shlaine, Anthony Dowd), 4:04
5. ASU, D Jackson (T Jackson, Ryan Kirwan), 5:56
6. UMD, M. Plante (Zam Plante), 7:58
7. UMD, James (Anthony Menghini, Aiden Dubinsky), 8:59
8. ASU, Court, 19:51 (en)
Saves — Klayton Knapp, UMD, 20; Zach Sandy, UMD, 3; Luke Pavicich, ASU, 35.
power play – UMD 0-1; ASU 1-2. Penalties – UMD 2-4; ASU 1-2.