Gophers win 4-2 40.1-Emily West knocks in an open-net goal from the right side of the blue line. Gophers lead 4-0. 59.2-BSU will go with an open net 1:29-BSU cuts the lead to just one, knocking the puck above Räty’s left shoulder. 7:14-The Beavers cut Minnesota’s lead to two with a shot from Erin Cody just in front of the Gophers’ net. Minnesota leads 3-1. 12:32-Jones will head to the box for body checking, giving BSU another power-play opportunity. 14:42- Rasmussen extends the Gophers lead with her fourth goal of the season, Blankeship and Bozek get the assists. 15:03-Jalosuo almost got her first goal of the year, but Tomcikova made another great outstretched save. The Gophers head into the final period in the lead 2-0. Minnesota has not lost when leading after two periods all year. The Gophers bombarded Tomcikova with 18 shots in the period. Minnesota is outshooting the Beavers 30-12 in the game. The Gophers had only one penalty in the period, a 10-minute game misconduct for Emily West. The Gophers were also 0-3 on the power play in the period. Zebro will also get an assist on Erickson’s goal. 3:34-Emily West will head to the penalty box. 4:05-Erickson scores her twelfth goal of the season on a breakaway coming off the bench . The puck just slipped past Tomcikova’s right leg just before Erickson slammed into the goal. Laura May gets the assist. 11:18-Räty makes a great one-on-one save. Erickson had it taken away from her in BSU’s zone, but Räty was able to make the save on Bauerfeld. BSU gets called for too many players on the ice, and the Gophers will have another power play. 17:14-Gophers score on a improbable goal. The puck somehow made its way into the back of the net after bouncing off Tomcikova’s chest and arm in mid-air. Kelli Blankenship gets credit for the goal, Schleper and Rasmussen get the assists. Looks like Zebro is fine, as she makes her way back into the game. We’ll have 1:11 of four-on-four play to start the period. No score after one. The Gophers were in a similar situation last Friday, but broke up the 0-0 tie halfway through the second period, and scored four goals in the last half of the game. Minnesota is outshooting the Beavers 12-3, but the strong play of Bemidji’s Slovakian goalie Tomcikova has kept this game in a deadlock. Both teams have had one power play in the first and each yieded only one shot on goal. 48.7-Zebro will head to the penalty box for body checking. BSU’s Erin Cody will join her for high sticking. It looks like Zebro may be hurt, as freshman Katie Frischmann takes her place in the box. 5:06-BSU back to full strength. 7:06-Minnesota will get its first power play as BSU’s Wheelhouse heads to the box. 9:17- Tomcikova makes a couple great saves on Horton. Horton rebounded her own shot, but Tomcikova made a diving save to keep the score at 0-0. 12:18-Gophers back to full strength with no harm done. 14:18-Junior Terra Rasmussen gets called for hooking, the first power play for either team tonight. Looks like we’ll see the top two goalies in the league in save percentage tonight in Minnesota’s Noora Räty and BSU’s Zuzana Tomcikova. The Gophers will also start Erickson, West, Francis, Schleper, and Zebro. Minnesota head coach Brad Frost said earlier in the week that he would like to see his team stay out of the box tonight after a rough first period last Saturday saw the Gophers visiting the box 4 times in the first period of play. So far the team is fourth in the league in penalty minutes per game.
The No. 2 Gophers are making their first appearance in Ridder Arena since Oct. 24 tonight against Bemidji State. The Gophers earned four points in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association last weekend in Mankato with a 4-1 victory on Friday and a shootout victory on Saturday. The Gophers have 16 points on the year, and have a 2-point lead over Minnesota-Duluth. The Beavers split last weekend with St. Cloud State and are currently fifth in the WCHA with 10 points.
