The No.2 Gophers (19-3-4, 15-2-3) look to keep up their home dominance against the struggling Mavericks (4-15-5, 2-13-5) here at Ridder Arena. The puck is set to drop at 7:07 p.m.

Gophers win 4-2. 1:07-MSU pulls their goalie. Still 4-2 Gophers 7:11-Francis knocks the puck off the top crossbar. The pace has slowed down here a bit, with the Gophers looking to contain MSU on their way to a victory. 16:02-Zebro heads to the box for hooking. 18:18-We’ll see the 4-on-4 again. Minnesota responds with three big goals to give them a 4-2 lead going into the final period. The Gophers are 19-0-1 when leading after two periods. Downey, West and Kortum all scored goals. It was just Kortum’s third goal of the year, and Downey’s second. Minnesota turned the tables on the Mavericks in almost every category in the second, out-shooting them 14-8 after getting out-shot 4-9 in the first. MSU actually has more total shots attempted, but many have sailed wide or have been deflected. Grogan has made a turnaround from the first period too, making a few huge saves in traffic. In other WCHA action tonight, Ohio State topped Wisconsin in thrilling fashion, scoring the winning goal with just nine seconds left. The Badgers had a 4-3 lead with less than four minutes left, but the Buckeyes managed two goals to pull off the victory in Columbus. 1:11-Nevermind-Francis gets slashing, we’ll see 4-on-3. 1:34-MSU’s Hewitt heads to the box, so we’ll see a 4-on-4 here. 2:16-West will head to the box for roughing the goaltender. West was rushing toward the net and seemed to be taken into the goalie by an MSU defender. 6:16-Gophers add another as Becky Kortum knocks one in for her third goal of the season. Kortum knocked in the goal unassisted from the left circle. 10:47-Goal stands. Sam Downey got the goal after a huge scrum in front of the MSU net. The puck finally escaped the crowd and Downey popped it in. 10:47-Gophers get another goal, but it is under review. 11:25-Gophers get a couple of opportunities but can’t capitalize. Still 2-2. 14:26-Gophers take advantage as the puck slides past Alli Altmann in the middle of a scrum. Emily West gets credit for the goal. 14:40-Gophers will get a chance with a 5-3 advantage here, as MSU’s Jenna Hewitt and Holly Snyder head to the box. The Gophers are down 2-1 going into the second period. The last time the team went down 2-1 after one was against Ohio State on Jan. 8. Grogan was also in the goal for that series, and did not allow a goal for the rest of the series. The Mavericks are outshooting Minnesota 9-4, with each team visiting the sin bin twice. Junior Terra Rasmussen talked earlier in the week about giving Grogan confidence by playing tight in the defensive zone, which the Gophers may to do a better job on in the upcoming period. The Gophers made a couple of bad passes in their zone early, one leading to the Mavericks’ first goal. 5:58-Mavericks get another one past Grogan as MSU’s Lauren Smith floats it over her shoulder. 2-1 MSU 8:35-The Mavericks get on the board first after a bad pass in the Gopher zone. But before I could type, Jones scores just 13 seconds later. 1-1. 13:12-Both teams exchange penalties with no harm done. Gophers almost get on the board with a Chelsey Jones chip shot on the left side of the net, but she could not control it. Last weekend, the Gophers managed a sweep over North Dakota by the score of 3-0 and 2-0. Minnesota head coach Brad Frost said he was not totally happy with the effort, however, and hopes to see his team come out firing this weekend. Gophers senior Michelle Maunu said the team has had one of the best weeks of practice all year, and is confident Minnesota will return to their dominant form they have played at all year. The Gophers will be without their freshman phenom Noora Räty, as she joined the Finnish National Team before their 2010 Olympic run. Räty is leading the nation in goals against average, save percentage, and shutouts. In her place are sophomore Alyssa Grogan and junior Jenny Lura. Recently, Grogan helped the Gophers sweep Ohio State on Jan. 8-9 in Räty’s absence. Lura had 19 saves in 31:46 minutes in exhibition play against Team USA. The last time these two teams met, the Gophers took the first game 4-1 in Mankato, but needed a shootout victory in the second contest to earn the four points. Minnesota holds an all-time record of 43-3-3 against MSU. The Mavericks have struggled this year, dropping their last five. They have not won in regulation since Nov. 20 against Minnesota-Duluth. Great national anthem sung by Dave the avid women’s hockey fan. If you have been to a game this year, you know who I am talking about. Starting for the Gophers: #31 Alyssa Grogan #20 Alexandra Zebro #22 Anne Schleper #25 Terra Rasmussen #10 Brittany Francis #4 Sarah Erickson