UND's power play is clicking at rates rarely seen in college hockey

Feb. 9—GRAND FORKS — There has only been one power play in men's college hockey during the last 25 years that finished the season converting 32 percent of its chances.

That was the 2015-16 Michigan squad, which rolled out a top unit featuring Kyle Connor, Zach Werenski, J.T. Compher and Tyler Motte.

The Wolverines were at exactly 32 percent that season.

This year's UND team is ahead of that pace.

The Fighting Hawks enter the month of February converting 32.4 percent of their chances. It's the best mark in the country, and if they keep it up, it would be the best of any college hockey team since 1995-96, when Colorado College hit 32.7 percent.

UND's standard top unit of Riese Gaber (10 power-play goals), Jackson Blake (six), Chris Jandric (two), Jake Schmaltz (two) and Gavin Hain (one) has done most of the damage, accounting for the bulk of UND's NCAA-leading 36 power-play goals.

The second unit has started to come alive since UND put Tyler Kleven (four power-play goals) on it in November.

UND has scored a power-play goal in 22 of 27 games this season.

"It's huge," UND coach Brad Berry said of the power play's success. "It's very impactful. I put power play and penalty together. If you're dominant in those areas, you have a good chance to win games, especially offensively on the power play. If you're a threat, it maybe backs off some teams about being aggressive and assertive. Knowing that you've got a good power play, the other team has to be mindful and disciplined. That kind of throws the other team off a bit.

"It's a situation where it's helped us. You can really tell in games that we've won. It's not just scoring one goal, it's scoring two or three."

UND has already scored more power-play goals this season than in nine of the last 10 seasons, including the 2015-16 NCAA national championship-winning team. The only team with more was 2017-18. UND will match that squad's output with its next power-play goal.

The key to UND's power play is not the setup itself.

The Fighting Hawks use a 1-3-1, which is standard in higher levels of hockey today.

The 1-3-1 means there's one defenseman at the top of the zone, three players spread across the middle (one in the left circle, one in the right circle and one in between the circles), and one who is stationed at net front or at the side of the net.

Normally, UND has Jandric at the top, Blake on the left flank, Gaber on the right flank, Hain between the dots (also known as the bumper position) and Schmaltz on the goal line.

This is the same formation UND has used the last few seasons, albeit with different personnel.

Several things have set the Fighting Hawks apart this season.

Their high-end skill level on the flanks with Gaber and Blake have been the driving force. Jandric has been an excellent decision-maker at the top. UND has an ability to run numerous different plays and it has even moved players to different spots to throw off penalty kills.

UND's favorite play the last two seasons has been giving the puck to Gaber as he skates on the right flank with speed toward the net.

As a right-hander, Gaber can protect the puck from penalty killers in the middle of the ice as he skates. Then, Gaber is elite at snapping a shot through a screen — whether it's a defender or UND's net-front guy — and picking a corner.

Gaber ended the month of January tied for the national lead in power-play goals with 10.

The junior winger already has more power-play goals this season than any UND player in the last decade.

The last UND player to hit double digits in power-play goals was Brock Nelson, who had 10 in 2011-12. Matt Frattin also had 10 in his Hobey Baker Hat Trick finalist season of 2010-11.

The last player to have more than Gaber's current mark was Ryan Duncan, who had 17 during his Hobey Baker-winning campaign in 2006-07.

"He's a shooting threat," Berry said. "He's a guy who can not only pick a spot like he did at Miami, but if he's getting keyed on and they flex out on him a little bit, he has different options going forward."

Not surprisingly, teams have tried to take away Gaber.

But it hasn't worked.

In fact, UND's power play has been even better as of late. The Fighting Hawks went 13-for-31 in January, a 41.9 percent clip.

That's because the Fighting Hawks have kept opposing penalty kills at bay by running numerous different plays and by randomly sneaking Gaber into different spots.

Jandric is essentially a traffic director from the top of the zone, making quick reads on what the defense is giving him, then taking advantage of what he sees.

His first option is to get it to Gaber. His second is to give it to Blake on the other side. His third is to shoot with potentially two layers of traffic from Hain and Schmaltz.

Jandric's ability to read the defense and make the right decision when moving the puck has been paramount — and it's been reflected by his stats.

Jandric is the fourth-leading defenseman scorer in the nation with 26 points. Only three of his points have come at even strength. The other 23 are on the power play.

"I think Chris sees the ice really well," said UND assistant Karl Goehring, who coaches the power play. "It's really important at that position that you see the options and you're able to move it and you see the PK and what they're doing. Give Jandric a lot of credit for being able to do that and find the open space."

Blake has given UND an equally dangerous threat on the left side, making it tough for defenses to cheat toward Gaber.

The freshman forward already has six power-play goals, which is more than any player on UND's 2015-16 NCAA national title team. Brock Boeser, who finished that season with 27 goals and 60 points, had five on the power play.

"He's got some strengths," Goehring said. "One, he has really good vision. Two, his ability to one-time pucks. Then again, he's so elusive. He can make some plays. It's fun to have that option to put him there, to put him in different spots, and allow him to create."

On UND's first power play against Miami two weekends ago, RedHawk defenders sprinted to collapse on Gaber when he got the puck. But Gaber exposed them by making a seam pass to Blake, whose one-timer is open to receive passes from that side of the ice. Blake hammered it into the corner of the net.

"I think those guys are very smart players and adept at knowing when pressure is coming and when pressure is not coming," Berry said. "That's a key on the power play — having good, smart players that can make plays."

UND also has used the goal line player — usually Schmaltz — far more often than previous seasons.

A common play in the 1-3-1 is sending a pass to the goal line player, then he quickly pops a pass to the guy between the dots or backdoor for a one-timer.

UND also will randomly throw completely different looks at opponents.

When the Fighting Hawks played Western Michigan in mid-January, they came out with Gaber playing between the dots, Blake on the right flank and Ethan Frisch on the left flank, where his one-timer is open to the center of the ice.

That formation is designed to throw teams off after game-planning to stop Gaber on the right flank.

Although those aren't the usual spots for Gaber and Blake, they're both experienced at those positions.

Gaber played in the middle for the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the United States Hockey League. He also manned that spot for UND as a freshman. Blake played on the right side for Chicago in the USHL last season.

"It's about always trying to give our guys the best chance to succeed," Goehring said. "Depending on what the opposing PK is doing, looking at how we can create the best we can and help our team win games. It's a little bit of that chess match as well of trying to move guys around a little bit and keep the opposition on their toes."

UND also has been able to adjust when injuries occur.

Both Hain and Schmaltz sustained upper-body injuries during the series opener at Miami last month. On Saturday, UND rolled two new players into the bumper and goal line spots and went 4-for-8 on the power play.

"At the beginning of the year, everybody gets a crack at (practicing on the power play)," Berry said. "By the time you get from September to October, you get down to two or three units. But I think it's critical early in the season to give everybody the opportunity. The other part is sitting in on power-play meetings. It's not just the power-play units, it's other guys sitting in there, so when they do get their opportunity, they know what's going on."

When: 8:30 p.m. Central on Friday, 7 p.m. Central on Saturday.

Where: Magness Arena, Denver.

TV: CBS Sports (GF Ch. 635 HD) on Friday only.

Stream: NCHChockey.com on Saturday only.

Radio: The Fox (96.1 FM).