Gophers vs. Canisius

At the beginning of the game today, it looked like it had the potential of being a blowout. After starting off with a goal :12 into the game, and a devastating hit from Tom Serratore a few minutes later, the Gopher fans really didn't have much to cheer about the rest of the way. The best way I can describe play after that initial burst of action, is bland. You could have heard crickets at Mariucci for the balance of the game, with the exception of maybe a power play in the third period and a big save by Adam Wilcox in the last :30 of the game after Canisius pulled their goalie for the extra attacker.

After the game, Coach Lucia didn't seem too concerned with his teams lack of scoring punch, and credited the Canisius goaltender for playing a great game. Tony Copobianco stopped 41 of 42 shots for the Golden Griffins, after giving up a tip in goal to Kyle Rau :12 into the game. Still, the Gophers play so far this season has been a little up and down, and a bit of a concern. Maybe my expectations are up after their success last year, and high ranking to start this season?

Twynntown said:

At the beginning of the game today, it looked like it had the potential of being a blowout. After starting off with a goal :12 into the game, and a devastating hit from Tom Serratore a few minutes later, the Gopher fans really didn't have much to cheer about the rest of the way. The best way I can describe play after that initial burst of action, is bland. You could have heard crickets at Mariucci for the balance of the game, with the exception of maybe a power play in the third period and a big save by Adam Wilcox in the last :30 of the game after Canisius pulled their goalie for the extra attacker.

After the game, Coach Lucia didn't seem too concerned with his teams lack of scoring punch, and credited the Canisius goaltender for playing a great game. Tony Copobianco stopped 41 of 42 shots for the Golden Griffins, after giving up a tip in goal to Kyle Rau :12 into the game. Still, the Gophers play so far this season has been a little up and down, and a bit of a concern. Maybe my expectations are up after their success last year, and high ranking to start this season?

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I have a general rule that I don't get concerned/upset when we "only" beat an opponent by a narrow margin in any sport. Three things could have happened today: win, tie, or loss, and we got the best of those results. Furthermore, we outshot and outchanced them by a significant margin, and some very impressive netminding kept them in it. So this game doesn't worry me. I was a little concerned with how we played last Friday against Tech and hoping that that was not an indication of the same Friday night problems we've seen in the past. Let's see what happens next Friday.

So, having not watched either game this weekend is there reason to be concerned with our play, or did we do what we needed to do this weekend?

Go Gophers!!

Welllllll, today and Friday were two very different games. We were missing Alt & Rau on Friday against the U.S. National team, so that didn't help. We also looked a lot like we did in game one at Michigan Tech, giving up a lot of odd man situations that led to scoring opportunities. And although young, that U.S. team was very skilled and well coached. Still, the Gophers looked out of step most of the night.

Today they looked much better on defense, and team play was just better overall. They looked smooth, and composed. Passing was crisp, and people made smart decisions. And communication was really good. I think they were just the victim of a goalie that played well, and a Canisius team that packed it in defensively around their own net. Even though the Goph's had 42 shots on goal, they also had a ton that just didn't get through because they hit a body.

That being said, the Gophers ARE 4-1-0, and it feels like Lucia is still feeling things out to see who works where. Hell, I saw keep seeing Ben Marshall down in the offensive end in the corner, and look back to see who's covering for him on Defense before I remember he's actually playing Wing.