3rd period: In a weird event, North Dakota pulled their goalie with four minutes left in the period. North Dakota was down 3-0 at that point and it looked like they just wanted to get on the board. However, Minnesota was the team that got on the board. Jocelyne Lamoureux got an empty-netter to make the score 4-0. North Dakota did get on the board with 10 seconds left in the game to end it 4-1. 2nd period: The Gophers continue to look off. I don’t know exactly what their main issue is but passes are tape-to-tape and the skating is slow. However off Minnesota looks, they scored twice in the period to increase their lead. On a power play, Jocelyne Lamoureux scored on a one-timer and Kelly Seeler scored her second goal on an identical play as her first: a slap shot. Emily West assisted on Seeler’s second goal, increasing her point-streak to 17 games. She started her streak in November and it has survived a series against defending National Champions Duluth and a tough series against Wisconsin. Minnesota took 16 shots this period for a total of 27 while North Dakota took 7 for a total of 10. 1st period: Minnesota started the game slowly. The first two lines looked sluggish, losing races to the puck. The third line was the line on the ice when the Gophers scored their only goal of the game so far. Kelly Seeler ripped a slapshot from the point to find the back of the net as the forwards created chaos in front of the net. Alyssa Grogan faced seven shots while her teammates took 11 shots. Pre-game:
After last weekend’s pressure filled series, the North Dakota games this weekend will have the same amount. Despite a different caliber team, the Gophers need the wins to continue to stay in frist place in the WCHA, one point ahead of Wisconsin. The Badgers play Minnesota State this weekend.
Brad Frost’s line-up looks pretty familiar. Nothing new to note- this week he said his team was in a groove and that major changes were unlikely.
Here’s a look at the line-up:
West-Schoullis-Marvin
Francis-J. Lamoureux-M. Lamoureux
Rasmussen-Erickson-Blankenship
May-Horton-Jones
Gagnon-Seeler
Drazan-Maunu
Schleper-Willey
North Dakota’s line-up features only three forward lines and with the Gophers depth, this might give Minnesota an advantage. Five skaters for North Dakota are not in the line-up tonight, I’m not sure why.
