ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- When North Dakota took the ice prior to Friday night's game at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, two players ran into each other and both fell to the ice. Little did the seventh-ranked Fighting Hawks know, that was an omen to how the rest of the evening was going to go, as No. 5 St. Cloud State exploded for eight goals in an 8-1 victory over UND in the series opener. 

UND (10-6-0, 5-2-0-0-0-0 NCHC) is glad that the loss only counted as one in the standings, but the Huskies (10-5-0, 4-3-0-1-1-0 NCHC) took out some frustration to snap a three-game losing skid and a small two-game slide against North Dakota. 

Easton Brodzinski potted three goals, on in each period, while adding an assist to pace the home side with four points. Defenseman Nick Perbix also finished with four points, notching an assist on four of the first five goals for SCSU. Jack Peart and Kevin Fitzgerald each tallied three-point nights to help the hosts hand North Dakota its worst loss since 1998. 

 Zach Driscoll, making a return to the arena where he started his collegiate career, was pulled after allowing three goals on five shots in the opening 10 minutes of the game. Freshman Jakob Hellsten entered the game for his first college action of his career, becoming the first Swedish-born player to skate for North Dakota. The rookie made 22 stops in his debut action, allowing five goals in 49 minutes of play. 

It took St. Cloud State just 18 seconds into the game to jump out to the lead. Kyler Kupka finished off a passing play with a slick move to get around the defense and Driscoll to quickly make it 1-0 in favor of the hosts. After Fitzgerald made it 2-0 just over four minutes later, UND seemed to get some momentum with a few strong shifts. Louis Jamernik rang one off the post following a great chance from Matteo Costantini, returning to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 13 at Miami, but a penalty halted the strong play by the Hawks. 

The nation's top power play cashed in on Brodzinski's first of the night to make it 3-0 just 10:59 into the game and forcing UND to turn to Hellsten in net. The rookie stopped all five shots in the first period to allow the visitors to get to the intermission with the three-goal deficit. 

Coming out of the break, it was UND who seemed to carry the play to open the second. The hard work finally paid off with just under eight minutes to go in the frame when Connor Ford fired a rebound into the net following a great rush from Jake Sanderson and Jackson Kunz to pull the visitors within two, 3-1. The goal seemed to energize UND, nearly potting a second just moments later; however, an odd-man rush following a face-off allowed Brodzinski to add his second and extend the lead back to three, 4-1, just 2:43 after the North Dakota tally. 

Penalty trouble reared its head again for the Hawks, with Chris Jandric called for a major penalty and game misconduct for spearing following the fourth SCSU goal. Zach Okabe cashed in during the final minute of the second period to give the Huskies a 5-1 lead after two. 

Two goals in the opening four minutes of the third killed any chance of a rally by UND before a third power play goal by the Huskies put the finishing touches on the 8-1 victory. 

North Dakota and St. Cloud State will close out the weekend series tomorrow night at 6 p.m. 

NOTES: The seven-goal loss was the first for UND since a 7-0 defeat at Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 28, 1998 ... Friday tied the largest margin of victory for St. Cloud State in the all-time series, matching a 9-2 win by the Huskies on Jan. 20, 1995 in St. Cloud ... Matteo Costantini and Jackson Kunz both returned to the lineup ... Ashton Calder did not play due to an upper-body injury ... Jakob Hellsten made his collegiate debut in the loss ... Mark Senden led UND with five shots on goal ... Final shots were 32-28 in favor of SCSU ... The Huskies finished 3-for-6 on the power play with 11 shots while UND went 0-for-2 with two shots ... SCSU won the face-off battle, 32-29 ... Connor Ford led UND with 12 wins.