UND's Jan Špunar stays unbeaten with OT win, completes sweep of Bemidji State

Nov. 30—GRAND FORKS — Oliver Peer raced down the left wing on a two-on-one and sent the puck to Bemidji State's leading point-scorer, Adam Flammang.

Flammang let a shot loose from the right faceoff circle, seeking the game-winning goal against UND less than one minute into overtime.

Freshman goaltender Jan Špunar was ready for it. The puck careened harmlessly into his chest, and Flammang circled around the back of the net, stick raised above his head in frustration.

"He had passed it pretty early, so I had so much time to just move their side and use my belly," Špunar said.

Two minutes later, freshman forward Will Zellers buried a power-play goal to seal the win.

"I was happy, I'm not going to lie," Špunar said. " I was pretty tired around that time. I was happy it's over."

The Fighting Hawks came away with a 2-1 victory Saturday night at the Ralph Engelstad Arena, securing a series sweep of the Beavers.

Špunar had good reason to be tired by the end of overtime. This weekend marked the first time he started both games on a weekend in his collegiate career, and the Hawks arrived back in Grand Forks early Saturday morning after Friday's 5-3 win in Bemidji.

"We got back at 1 a.m. last night and he got up, still got ready for the game and played outstanding," Zellers said. "So just really, really proud of him. And all the boys played unreal up in front of him. He made it pretty easy for us back there with the way he's playing the puck."

Head coach Dane Jackson factored in the quick turnaround on whether to go back to Špunar for the series finale, but Špunar's sparkling record this season proved too strong to overlook.

"Just the body of work that he's built," Jackson said. "Every time he's gone in, he's been either really good or reliable. So we just thought we'd give him the chance to kind of go back-to-back, and obviously he was outstanding."

Špunar is still undefeated in net. He improved to 6-0 with the win, posting a .934 save percentage and a 1.50 goals against average.

Špunar is the first UND goaltender to start his freshman campaign with a 6-0 record since Jordan Parise in 2003-04.

Bemidji State made him work for his sixth, though.

Špunar made a career-high 33 saves against the Beavers. His previous high was 22 against Omaha on Nov. 7.

"Especially early, they were taking some pucks to the net, and we weren't that sharp," Jackson said. "They were kind of jamming the crease. And (Špunar) was really strong low, and that was big for us to kind of get our footing. And he made all the saves that he should, and then obviously made some really big ones that you don't always expect. To win those games, sometimes you need that. So it was really nice to see him play so well."

Saturday night saw an increased workload for Špunar, but consecutive starts aren't anything new for him.

Špunar often made back-to-back starts for the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the United States Hockey League and the Portland Winterhawks in the Western Hockey League. He played for Portland from 2022-24 and Dubuque last season.

"I did it in the WHL, so I kind of got used to it pretty much," Špunarsaid. "We played three games in three days too, so it was pretty similar. It was just mentally harder, for sure. I'm happy we won both games."