GRAND FORKS, N.D. - After allowing two early power play goals, Michigan needed a spark from its special teams to get back into the game. The Wolverines had that chance three minutes into the second period. Skating with the man advantage, the Wolverines applied pressure and had North Dakota goalie Jordan Parise out of position. But the Fighting Sioux cleared the puck out of harm's way and took advantage of the Wolverines' aggressiveness to transition into a great scoring chance of their own.

North Dakota sophomore Travis Zajac passed to a streaking Drew Stafford, who had slipped past the Michigan defense. The junior, who is tied with freshman star T.J. Oshie for the team lead in goals, beat Ruden gloveside for a short-handed goal to push the Fighting Sioux lead to three.

"That short-handed goal was the killer of the game," Michigan captain Andrew Ebbett said. "It was pretty costly."

Thanks to its special teams, North Dakota jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and never looked back en route to a convincing 5-1 victory over Michigan on Friday night in the West Regional Semifinal of the NCAA Tournament. The loss ended the Wolverines' streak of 11 consecutive seasons of winning at least one Tournament game.

As the regional's host, the Fighting Sioux (16-12-0 WCHA, 28-15-1 overall) had the luxury of playing the game on their home ice at Ralph Englestad Arena. The Wolverines (13-10-5, 21-15-5) tried to follow their recipe for success that worked so well when they beat New Hampshire on its home ice in the 2004 NCAA Tournament - score early and keep the crowd out of the game - but that plan fizzled away just minutes into the game.

After a Wolverine miscommunication, Michigan freshman Mark Mitera was forced to take a holding penalty to stop a potential breakaway, and North Dakota executed its power play to perfection. Defenseman Kyle Radke sent a pass from the right point to freshman Jonathan Toews, who was in the left slot. Toews quickly fed a wide-open Ryan Duncan on the far post, and the freshman banged the puck past Michigan goalie Noah Ruden for the first goal of the game just over five minutes into the first period. The score allowed the record sellout crowd of 11,153 to go nuts, and "The Ralph" was rocking from that point on.

"North Dakota got a good start and got the crowd into it," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "It was a great crowd and a great environment for a regional."

Energized by its home crowd, North Dakota struck a few minutes later. Skating four-on-four, Michigan forwards T.J. Hensick and Chad Kolarik got caught up ice. As the Fighting Sioux came the other way in transition, defenseman Matt Smaby came out of the penalty box, creating an odd-man rush. Oshie skated into the Michigan zone and unleashed a wicked shot from the left slot that sailed over Ruden's left shoulder for a 2-0 lead.

The hot start by the Fighting Sioux proved to be too much to overcome. Michigan was never able to cut the lead to one, and familiar problems on the power play continued to haunt the team, as they went 1-6 with the man-advantage.

North Dakota's shorthanded goal proved to be the dagger in the heart of the Wolverines. Instead of cutting into the deficit on the power play, Michigan found itself further behind. The Wolverines managed to respond on the same power play when senior Brandon Kaleniecki found Kolarik open in the slot, but the exchange of goals on their own power play was far short of the spark the Wolverines needed.

Parise frustrated the Wolverines all night - stopping 34 of the 35 shots he faced. His play between the pipes made a two-goal lead seem almost insurmountable, but North Dakota didn't want to give the Wolverines any opening. The Fighting Sioux tacked on a goal late in the second period, and another late in the third to ice the game.

"Against (Michigan), with the weapons that they have, you never really feel comfortable," North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol said. "I don't think we felt comfortable with the lead until late in the game when we scored out fifth goal."

Unlike in past games during the season where the effort of the team could have been questioned in puzzling losses to lesser teams, the Wolverines came to play on Friday night, throwing 35 pucks on net. They settled down after allowing the first two goals and even outplayed North Dakota for long stretches of the second period. But between their lopsided special teams advantage, the play of Parise, the talent of their forwards and the energy of the crowd, the Fighting Sioux were just too much for Michigan to handle.

"That was the best group of forwards we played against all year, and we've played against some pretty good teams," Ebbett said. We had our opportunities, it just wasn't meant to be."