Gophers win it, 4-2. Some fireworks at the end of the game as a fight broke out right in front of the Seawolves net. Four penalties to end the game. —– Interesting turn of events here at Mariucci. With 28.5 seconds left in the period, Jay Barribal was gave the Gophers a little insurance netting his ninth goal of the season. Minnesota was on the power play after a 5-minute major and game misconduct call which sent Anchorage’s Mat Robinson to the locker room early. The Seawolves had kept Minnesota off the board for four minutes and 37 seconds before Barribal gave the Gophers the 3-1 lead. Minnesota freshman Nico Sacchetti took the hit which led to Robinson’s rejection and he was taken back into the locker room. No word yet on his status and knowing Don Lucia we likely won’t know much about it tonight. Sacchetti was just one of the two cheap shots taken by the Seawolves tonight. Barribal took a hit earlier in the period and went back to the locker room to be looked at before returning to score the goal. So apparently he’s ok. Lucia and Barribal both wanted a call but the referee missed the actual hit and just saw Barribal limping on the ice. Interesting 2nd period of hockey, no question. At the end of two, Minnesota leads it 3-1. —– David Fisher nets his second goal of the season to help Minnesota regain to lead. Christianson got caught sleeping. He had come out of the net to snag the puck which ended up in the hands of Fisher at the blue line where he sent a shot that trickled right by the Seawolves goaltender who was just getting back into position. Doubt he ever saw it coming. —– It was a solid first period of play for the Gophers, though the one lapse during the Seawolves’ power play lost Minnesota a lead heading into the first intermission. The Gophers’ certainly looked like the dominant team on the ice, but we’ll have to see if they can turn that into points. —- Well that lead was short lived. At 3:35, Anchorage answered on the power play. Junior Paul Crowder netted his 11th goal of the season. All tied up. —- Goal Minnesota at 2:13. The Gophers came out strong and and put a lot of pressure on Alaska goaltender Bryce Christianson and Minnesota’s Cade Fairchild got a feed from Jay Barribal for his 7th goal of the season. Minnesota up 1-0. —–

 For anyone expected to see Brian Deutsch writing the blog today, I hope you’re not too disappointed. Unfortunately and rather tragically, Deutsch lost his father last night and drove home in the middle of the night. For anyone who knows him, frequents his blogs or just has a general concern, keep him in your thoughts and prayers the best that you know how.

Moving on however, tonight’s game for Minnesota is a truly pivotal one. The Gophers are winless in five straight and are slowly dropping in the WCHA standings. The point they earned for a tie yesterday didn’t really do much for either team, making tonight’s game important for them both. Should be a good game.