Goalie’s title aim is ‘everything ’
For all his individual accomplishments, the prospect of winning a national championship is what drives Minnesota State goaltender Dryden McKay.
The senior from Downers Grove, Ill., has set numerous NCAA records during his fouryear Mavericks career. Now he’s headed to Boston after Minnesota State’s 1-0 win over Notre Dame Saturday at MVP Arena secured a berth in the Frozen Four in Boston.
McKay, voted the Most Outstanding Player in the Albany Regional, stopped all 23 shots he faced from Notre Dame in securing his 10th shutout of the season, the third straight year he has had double-digit shutouts, and 34th of his career, an NCAA record.
“It (a national title) would mean everything, not personally but as a group,” McKay said. “These are my best friends and this has been the best four years of my life and I can’t think of a better way to cap it than with a national title.”
The win extends McKay’s single-season record to 37 — against four losses — and ranks him second all-time in career wins behind Marty Turco of Michigan, who won 127 games from 1995-98. McKay has 112.
Following Nathan Smith’s goal with 16 seconds left in the first period, McKay knew the game was on his shoulders if he could record another shutout.
“Any time you get a lead in a big game like that, you have that thought to make it last as long as you can,” McKay said.
McKay was called on in the first to keep the game scoreless and did just that, stopping Graham Slaggert’s bid with 54.1 seconds left in the period and denied Jake Pivonka 12 seconds later.
“He kept the game at zero. It is one thing he has had a special knack for and I hope that continues. If we get to a lead, he does a really good job of calming a stressful environment down,” Minnesota coach Mike Hastings said. “Timely saves are so important, it’s not the amount of saves to me, it is when those saves are made. He hasn’t done that for two weeks, he’s done that for four years.”
In the last two minutes of regulation and with Notre Dame skating with an extra attacker after pulling goaltender Matthew Galajda, McKay came up with three big stops to secure the win.
The Frozen Four trip is an opportunity for McKay and the Mavericks to erase a bitter defeat in the 2021 national semifinals when St. Cloud State scored with 53 seconds left in the third period to send the Mavericks home with a 5-4 defeat.
“Any time your season ends on a last-second goal like that in a big stage, it is going to put a sour taste in your mouth,” McKay said. “With so many guys coming back, it drove us during the summer and gave us extra incentive the whole season. We got the taste and want to make it count this year.”
Playing in goal seems to be in McKay’s blood as his father Ross played in goal in one NHL game and Dryden McKay was named after NHL Hall of Fame goaltender Ken Dryden. McKay wears the same No. 29 as the former Cornell and Montreal Canadiens standout.
“My dad was a goalie. When I was growing up he was coaching goalies for the local junior team,” McKay said. “As soon as I realized what hockey was, I knew if I wanted to hang out with dad, I should be a goalie.”
If McKay can emulate his namesake for two more games, it could mean the first national title for Minnesota State.