Update: Tech simply owned the second period although the Huskies didn’t have anything to show for it. In the third period, they wouldn’t come away empty handed – scoring a pair of goals to push OT. Here are some important stats from the game: -Alex Kangas gave up two goals on just four shots in the third period. Like I said earlier, he seems to play better the more action he sees. Unfortunately, he didn’t get challenged much today. -After basically scoring Minnesota’s early first period goal by sliding with the puck into the net, Geoff Kinrade gets some respect for tying the game at the 9:46 mark of the period. Jordan Baker scored Tech’s first goal of the game. -Mike Hoeffel picked up the WCHA’s first embellishment penalty of the year in overtime after taking a hit from Derek Kitti. Lucia didn’t seem happy about it, and although it was hard to read neither did Greg Shepard, the WCHA’s supervisor of officials. The camera showed Shepard in the pressbox following the call, and it looked like he was questioning the call. -The Gophers sent Ryan Stoa to the penalty box later in the OT period when the junior forward was called for tripping the goaltender with under two seconds left. Stoa had been flying to the net in a last ditch scoring effort . He just missed knocking the puck out of midair after a pass from Schroeder, but he did hit Nolan. After a Tech time out, the Huskies won the draw in the Minnesota zone, but Kangas was able to turn away a one-timer to end the game in a tie. That play was important in a couple ways. First, it showed just how important a new WCHA rule is. Starting this year, all faceoffs following a penalty start in the defensive zone of the charged team. So even though Stoa took out Nolan in the Huskies zone, the following faceoff took place next to Kangas. I was also a little surprised that Lucia didn’t send Jordan Schroeder out to take the last face off. He’s the best draw man on the team and for those of you who saw the game, that last draw was very important. Instead he had Mike Carman take the draw. After the game, the move was justified when the final stats came out. Carman was Minny’s best center today winning 11 of 20 chances. Meanwhile Schroeder was 10 of 18. Carman also has the experience of playing in tight games like today’s. -Heard BU lost last night, so if Minnesota can win tomorrow, the Gophers will likely move up to No. 1 in the nation. First: Minnesota scored 51 seconds into the game to start off strong. Ryan Stoa was credited with his eighth goal of the season when his shot bounced off goalie Rob Nolan and was dragged over the crease by Geoff Kinrade. Jordan Schroeder and Jay Barriball picked up helpers. The Gophers got another power-play goal near the halfway point of the first. Two seconds into the advantage Mike Hoeffel rang a shot high in the net and over Nolan. Schroeder picked up another assist on the play. That’s 10 assists through nine games for the true freshman. What else…the change in playing styles doesn’t seem to be affecting Minnesota. Tech is primarily a defensive team, while the rest of Minnesota’s previous opponents are all offensive. But so far, the Gophers don’t seem to have changed their game up at all to match up better. Here’s what I’m thinking during the intermission. Justin Bostrom needs some points in a bad way. He doesn’t have any this game despite playing in every game thus far. Lucia likes his physical play especially on the PK, but at what point do you need to give some of the scratched players a chance . Drew Fisher hasn’t played all year, and Michael Dorr, Nick Larson, and Joe Miller have each only made one appearance. The other question is, can you really scratch one of the team’s assist captains? Minnesota leads in shots 14-5 and Alex Kangas has been relatively untested. But beware, Kangas tends to struggle when he’s not challenged. Pre-game:
Couple notes before the game starts:
-The Brock Lesnar fight is tonight. I won’t be watching it, but from the predictions, it should be the biggest fight in UFC history.
– Former Gophers blue-liner Alex Goligoski scored his first career shootout goal last night to give the Penguins a win over Philly. Look it up on Youtube.
-I’m still trying to find the Minnesota cross country results. I’m supposed to call coaches right now, but that might be a little hard to do from the Mariucci pressbox.
Minnesota hockey coach Don Lucia is going with the classic lineup today. Meanwhile it looks like Tech senior goalie Rob Nolan will get the nod. Perenial fan favorite (hint: sarcasm) Michael Lee Teslak left the program early for a pro deal.
That’s it for now, be back after the first.
