Men's Ice Hockey 2/27/2018 4:00:00 AM By NCHC

Bauer NCHC Players of the Week: February 19-25, 2018

Omaha’s Keck, UMD’s Perunovich and Shepard, and SCSU’s Hrenák honored for week 19

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Underclassmen led the way last weekend as all four Bauer National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Players of the Week for the week of Feb. 19-25, 2018 are either freshmen or sophomores. Earning Bauer NCHC Player of the Week honors for week 19 are Omaha sophomore forward Tristan Keck for Offensive Player of the Week, Minnesota Duluth freshman blue liner Scott Perunovich for Defenseman of the Week, St. Cloud State freshman goaltender Dávid Hrenák for Rookie of the Week and UMD sophomore netminder Hunter Shepard for Goaltender of the Week.

This is the first career NCHC weekly honor for Keck, while Perunovich picked up his fifth NCHC weekly honor of the season, including third Defenseman of the Week nod. Hrenák is now a three-time NCHC Rookie of the Week, including twice in the last three weeks, while Shepard repeated as Goaltender of the Week and has now claimed the honor a conference-best six times this season.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Tristan Keck, Omaha
Sophomore Forward
Morris, Manitoba

Keck had a big four-point weekend, which tied for the NCHC scoring lead, to pace Omaha to a win and a tie against Colorado College last weekend. On Friday, he tallied a career-high three points in a 4-2 victory and earned First Star of the Game. He opened the game’s scoring with a goal early in the first frame, had the lone assist on Omaha’s second tally minutes later, and added another primary helper to make it 4-0 Mavericks. The Manitoba native put four shots on goal and was +2 in the win. The next night, Keck scored an unassisted short-handed goal, his first career short-handed tally, to put Omaha up, 2-1, in the second period of an eventual 2-2 tie, and was named Second Star of the Game. Keck finished the series with two goals, two assists, a +3 plus/minus and six shots on goal, while he also blocked three shots. On the season, he is tied for sixth on the team with 20 points on nine goals and 11 assists.

Defenseman of the Week

Scott Perunovich, Minnesota Duluth
Freshman Defenseman
Hibbing, Minn.

Perunovich was a key force at both ends of the ice in UMD’s sweep at Western Michigan with two points each night while helping limit the Broncos to one goal all weekend. On Friday, he had an assist on UMD’s first goal, which was the game-winner, while scoring the Bulldogs’ sixth goal in an 8-0 shutout. He was also +3 in the contest and led a penalty kill that went 3-for-3 in the blanking. The next night, the draft-eligible blue liner dished out a pair of primary assists in a 6-1 victory, setting up the second goal, which was the game-winner, and the fifth goal, which came on the power play. Perunovich finished the weekend with a goal, three assists, a +5 plus/minus and two shots on goal, while helping the penalty kill go 6-for-7 against the Broncos. On the season, he leads all NCAA freshman defensemen with eight goals, 21 assists and 29 points.

Rookie of the Week

Dávid Hrenák, St. Cloud State
Freshman Goaltender
Považská Bystrica, Slovakia

Hrenák backstopped St. Cloud State to its second Penrose Cup title, allowing only three goals in a tie and a win against then No. 3 Denver. On Friday, he totaled 25 saves and allowed only a late third period goal in a 1-1 overtime tie. A night later, Hrenák made 25 more saves in a 4-2 victory to clinch the regular-season title, including 11 saves in the third period. The Slovak finished the weekend with a 1-0-1 record, a .943 save percentage and a 1.44 goals-against average, totaling 50 saves, while killing all three Denver power plays. On the season, he is now 10-4-1, while he lowered his GAA to 1.89 and upped his season save percentage to .929.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK

Hunter Shepard, Minnesota Duluth
Sophomore Goaltender
Cohasset, Minn.

Shepard continued to be a wall in net, as he allowed only one goal, and none even strength, in a sweep at Western Michigan, after pitching two shutouts the weekend before. On Friday, he logged his third straight shutout, stopping all 22 shots he faced, including 10 in the first frame, to earn Second Star of the Game in an 8-0 blanking. It was his sixth shutout of the season, breaking both the NCHC and UMD single-season records, while the three straight whitewashes tied a UMD record. The next night, Shepard made 19 more saves in a 6-1 victory with his only goal allowed coming on the power play. He earned Third Star of the Game on Saturday after seeing his shutout streak of 222:00 snapped in the second period. Shepard finished the series with 41 saves on 42 shots for a .976 save percentage and a 0.50 goals-against average, while he was the lone NCHC goalie to go 2-0-0 on the weekend. This season, Shepard leads the NCHC with an 18-11-1 record, while ranking third with both a 2.04 GAA and a .924 save percentage.

OTHER NOMINEES:

Offensive Player of the Week
Henrik Borgström, So., F, Denver – Handed out an assist each game in a tie and loss at SCSU.

Josh Melnick, Jr., F, Miami – Compiled three points and was +3 against UND with two assists in Friday’s win, and a short-handed goal in Saturday’s tie.

Riley Tufte, So., F, UMD – Tallied a goal each night in a sweep at WMU, while dishing out two assists in Saturday’s win as well for a three-point night, while he was +3 in the series.

Defenseman of the Week
Louie Belpedio, Sr., D, Miami – Fired six shots on goal, was +3 and blocked two shots against UND, handing out an assist in Friday’s win as well.

Jon Lizotte, Jr., D, SCSU – Blocked eight shots and was +2 in a tie and win against DU, while handing out an assist and scoring an empty-netter in Saturday’s victory.

Adam Plant, Sr., D, Denver – Scored the game-tying goal in Friday’s draw at SCSU, while also assisting on DU’s 3-on-3 overtime goal Friday.

Rookie of the Week
Ben Lown, Fr., F, Miami – Was +2 and had two points in Friday’s win over UND with an assist in the third period before scoring the game-winner in overtime.

Dylan Samberg, Fr., D, UMD – Posted a +4 plus/minus in a sweep of WMU, while scoring his first career goal and adding an assist in Friday’s shutout, and handing out another helper on Saturday.

Christiano Versich, Fr., F, CC – Fired five shots on goal and had three points at Omaha with a goal and an assist Friday, while adding another assist in Saturday’s tie.

Goaltender of the Week
Alex Calvaruso, Fr., G, CC – Made a career-high 34 saves in Saturday’s 2-2 tie at Omaha, while allowing one goal in relief Friday to finish with a 1.83 GAA and a .952 save percentage in the series.

Tanner Jaillet, Sr., G, Denver – Went 0-1-1 at SCSU with 48 saves on 52 shots for a 1.96 GAA and a .923 save percentage.

Evan Weninger, Jr., G, Omaha – Posted a 1-0-1 mark while compiling 53 saves for a .930 save percentage and a 1.92 GAA in the series with CC.

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