Minnesota has made winning hockey games seem rather easy this season.

The No. 2 Gophers (7-1, 5-1 WCHA) are coming off a sweep of Minnesota State in which they outscored the Mavericks 10-0. Minnesota head coach Brad Frost said he is happy with the teamâÄôs offensive play.

âÄúKids are doing a good job moving their feet. When we lose possession of the puck, weâÄôre getting it back quickly which is what we need them to do,âÄù Frost said.

âÄúBecause weâÄôre doing a good job in the offensive zone, itâÄôs creating some opportunities for goals.âÄù

Minnesota will be looking to parlay its recent success into this weekend when it travels to Bemidji State.

The teams split last seasonâÄôs series in Bemidji and tied twice during the 2009-10 campaign.

The Beavers (5-1-2, 2-1-1 WCHA) brandished their own broom last weekend against St. Cloud State, dominating the Huskies 8-1 on Friday and 5-2 on Saturday.

Frost said BSU is âÄúprobably the hardest working teamâÄù in the conference and will bring a level of energy that the Gophers might not see from any other team this season.

âÄúThey have some talent on their team as well. TheyâÄôre well coached. âĦ We talk about just making sure that we approach every game the same, every weekend and this weekend we have the two biggest games of the year,âÄù he said.

Freshman forward Meghan Lorence said the team is looking forward to matching the BeaversâÄô intensity.

âÄúThatâÄôll be a big challenge for us. Just battling every single shot, every single shift, all game long âĦ ItâÄôll be fun to see how we do,âÄù Lorence said.

The Beavers are powered by forwards Sadie Lundquist and Emily Erickson, and defenseman Montana Vichorek. Erickson leads the team with six goals and Lundquist and Vichorek are tied for the team lead with 14 points.

However, the GophersâÄô defense is the best in WCHA. Through eight games, Minnesota has allowed six goals, fewest in the conference.

âÄúOur goaltending has been very good, but so has our [defensive] zone and penalty kill for the most part,âÄù Frost said. âÄúItâÄôs just a matter of continuing to care of that end defensively. If weâÄôre conscience of that weâÄôll be able to create some things offensively.âÄù

Frost said he expects his team to approach this weekendâÄôs series like every other.

âÄúThis team has developed a pretty business-like attitude. Regardless of our opponent, we want to prepare the same and worry about ourselves and I think theyâÄôve been doing a very good job of that all year.âÄù