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NCAA MEN'S FROZEN FOUR

April 8, 2017

Chicago, Illinois

Denver - 3, Minnesota-Duluth - 2

MODERATOR: We're joined by Minnesota-Duluth head coach Scott Sandelin and student-athletes Dominic Toninato, Avery Peterson and Karson Kuhlman. Questions for the players.

Q. Dom, the delay because of the injury seemed to ignite your team or switch their momentum. What was the talk during that timeout and what changed from that point on?
DOMINIC TONINATO: Just keep pushing. I mean, the talk in the locker room was go out there and have our best period and give ourselves a chance. Couldn't be prouder of the guys. They battled and gave it their all.

Q. Avery, it seemed like Denver made quite a push in that first maybe five, six minutes, the shots were 8-0 at that point. What was that time like and kind of surviving that moment? How key was that in staying in the game?
AVERY PETERSON: We knew that in their past four or five games they've come out strong in the first five or ten minutes so we had to kind of shut that down and try to give it to them. They did work us pretty good. And they definitely -- the ice went their way, but stayed in there and gave us a chance. Our first goal there was to shut down the first ten minutes of the period.

Q. Karson, you guys show the resiliency like you have all year in the third period, even being down 3-1, how were you able to just keep that mentality going?
KARSON KUHLMAN: Yeah, I think you said it. We've been resilient all year. We've came back multiple times throughout the season. And obviously in regionals there we fought to come back just to get to this point.

So I think we had a lot of belief in our team. I mean, nobody doubted for a second that we couldn't come back and tie that game up and eventually win it. So I think we just learned lessons throughout the year and then almost paid off there.

Q. Dom, could you talk about your P.K. and the way you were able to really neutralize Denver's top line on the penalty kill. Seems like you've had troubles with the P.K. throughout the year and you were really solid on it tonight.
DOMINIC TONINATO: Yeah, I mean, we wanted to be aggressive. They were making some good plays on teams that weren't very aggressive. So the mindset was get in shot lanes and be aggressive.

Q. Karson, talk about the senior class. I know a lot's been made of it, but now that it is over, your thoughts, Karson, on what they did and what they did for your program and especially this year?
KARSON KUHLMAN: Yeah, really unbelievable. Special group of guys, top to bottom there. Obviously it starts with Dom, our captain, our leader, trickles down. You've got character guys. It's been great for our younger guys to see how to play, how to manage games. I think a lot can be learned from that senior class. Obviously the three years I was with them was special, and I love those guys to death.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach.

Q. Without disrespecting Denver, did you feel that your team did what they needed to do to win? Felt like especially that third period you had the opportunities.
COACH SANDELIN: Yeah, we did. It was about a five-minute stretch. Seemed like that was the game really early with the three goals. I don't even know the amount of time. But, you know, again, our team's been behind. And, again, you're playing -- you have 20 minutes to try to win a hockey game.

And I thought our guys went out there and played as well as they could. The effort, you saw the period. I mean, you know, we went after it. And sometimes maybe a little luck, maybe we ran out of puck clock, I don't know, but we did what we had to do and couldn't be more proud of our guys to battle right to the end.

It's pretty much been their character all year. They're a great group of kids. And they never quit, a strong will, and we just came up a little short.

Q. Obviously you never want to see injuries, but it seemed like after that delay the momentum really switched. Did you use that like a timeout and come up with a new plan at that point, or what changed at that point?
COACH SANDELIN: I don't think the plan changed. Obviously we talked between periods, what we wanted to try and do. And maybe it took a little bit of sting out of them. I mean, anytime you see a teammate go down, nobody wants to see anybody get hurt. And I hope he's all right. I don't know.

But our mentality was to just kind of stay after it and have a good shift after that. And I thought we did. And we just kept building off that. But it was a little bit of a rest for our guys, but it didn't really change what we were trying to do.

I think we had started the period a little bit that way but had some shifts after that and kind of just tried to throw everything at them, but just couldn't quite find the equalizer.

Q. Once you guys got it to 3-2, what was the mindset on the bench, on the ice, given your success in those closer games?
COACH SANDELIN: That we could come back and tie the game and maybe win the hockey game. Certainly those are good situations, probably, when you get that goal. I mean, you need some spark, and obviously our guys got that spark.

And, I mean, you guys saw in the third period, did a pretty good job of having -- spending a lot of time in their offensive zone. And just need to be, you know, maybe a little harder on pucks and a little stronger on the net.

But I can't say anything -- our guys were awesome in the third, and we gave ourselves a chance to get back in the game. And we just came up one goal short.

Q. Can you talk about Troy Terry's play against your team. He had three points against you back in December, and he was a big player, you had trouble neutralizing...
COACH SANDELIN: He had a hell of a year. He's a hell of a player. You saw the play. Makes a great -- you know, I mean, I think obviously when we played them in December, he stepped up and he was a big-time player for them. BorgstrÃ¶m was out.

But it's kind of their team, too. They've had it all year. I think they've had different guys step up, and that's why they had the year they did. They're a great hockey team, and he's just a really talented player that certainly can score goals.

Q. Denver started fast in a lot of their games this year. In the first six minutes I think the shots were 8-0, and they seemed to control things. How important was surviving that stretch, and did you have to kind of rally guys, or did you consider a timeout at that point or anything?
COACH SANDELIN: No. You know, I mean, we knew -- if you look at whatever, certainly the NCAA tournament games, they've had great starts. And we knew that. And our guys I thought looked a little tentative, a little nervous. Some of those shots they were putting pucks in from the neutral zone onto Hunter. So some of those shots weren't necessarily dangerous, but they were coming, and that's how they play.

You gotta take care of the puck. And if you make soft plays, they're going the other way with it in a hurry. And they were doing that early. And I thought a key for us tonight was trying to get out of our zone clean, because they do such a good job of getting above you and pressuring. And I thought we had opportunities to do that early, and we didn't really do a very good job.

I thought we made -- we were hesitant and, you know, instead of just getting the puck out of the zone, we tried to make plays, and they were soft plays, and they contested it with sticks. And next thing you know, it was staying in zone and now you're playing defense, and that wasn't the plan. The plan was to spend as little time in our D zone as possible starting with breakouts and transition and clean transitions out of our zone.

Q. Can you talk about the way Hunter performed in this game, especially with that early onslaught that he withstood and especially being a freshman in the national championship game?
COACH SANDELIN: Pretty much like he's done all year. You know what, he's grown, he's grown through the year. He obviously had an outstanding freshman year for us. Big reason why we're playing today. But he was ready. Like I said, he's been that way. So it's probably one position I don't worry about too much, just his consistency level and just his focus level.

It's probably a good thing because he had to make two or three big saves for us early. And it will probably be good for him to get those under his belt as well. It probably helped him. So it was pretty much the norm, how he's played all year.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.

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