Sioux's Kristo of Eden Prairie named co-Rookie of the Week

A slightly edited WCHA news release:

North Dakota freshman forward Danny Kristo has been named the WCHA's co-Rookie of the Week.

The 5-11, 180-pound freshman right winger from Eden Prairie, Minn., and a draftee of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens, scored a goal each game and had eight shots on net as the visiting Sioux swept Colorado College 3-2 (ot) and 3-2.

With the victories, the Sioux, who were tied with CC for fifth place, clinched that spot and home ice for the first round of the conference playoffs.

Kristo had the game-winner, the first winner of his collegiate career, in last Saturday's victory over the host Tigers, and one night earlier opened the scoring with his team-leading eighth power-play goal.

Kristo leads WCHA rookies in scoring with 27 points (12g, 15a) in 32 games played.

Other award winners:

The 5-10, 180-pound senior from Huntington Beach, Calif., had three assists in Denver's 3-1 victory over host Minnesota State Mankato on Friday.

He then scored the game-winning goal last Saturday and set up another as the Pioneers completed the sweep with a 4-3 (ot) win over the Mavericks.

The New York Islanders' draftee fired a team-high 11 shots on goal in the series, added seven hits and blocked two shots.

Rakhshani is the WCHA's top scorer for all games with 45 points (19g, 26a) in 34 games played.

Also nominated this week were forwards Brad Malone of North Dakota UND and Andy Bombach of Wisconsin.

The 6-0, 175-pound sophomore from Chestermere, Alberta, Eidsness turned aside 53 of 57 series shots on goal for a .930 saves percentage as the Sioux swept CC. He also blanked the host Tigers on all 10 of their power-play opportunities.

A draftee of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, Eidsness stopped 26 shots in North Dakota's 3-2 (ot) victory over Colorado College last Friday and had 27 saves Saturday as the Sioux completed the sweep with another 3-2 triumph. It was North Dakota's their first sweep at CC since 1998-99, and clinched a home playoff berth for a league-leading eighth straight season.

Eidsness ranks second among WCHA goaltenders for all games in goals-against average at 2.21, is fourth in winning percentage at .655 on a 17-8-4 record, is fifth in saves percentage at .910 and is first in minutes played with 1,850.

Also nominated for this award were goalies Alex Kangas of the Gophers and Brady Hjelle of UMD and defenseman Patrick Wiercioch of Denver.

Co-Rookie of the Week: Matt Donovan, fr., D, Denver

Donovan, a 6-0, 190-pound freshman from Edmond, Okla., and a draftee of the NHL's New York Islanders, was a force defensively for the Pioneers in a 3-1, 4-3 (ot) WCHA road sweep at Minnesota State, two wins which earned DU it's 12th WCHA regular season championship.

He had 10 hits and four blocked shots, helped hold the Mavericks to one power-play goal in 13 chances, scored his sixth goal of the season in the win Friday and also fired four shots on goal.