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Gophers Giving Thanks For Road Trip East
By Thom Wynn
The #4 ranked Gophers (8-2-2, 4-2-2 WCHA) headed east this weekend for a two game series versus the Vermont Catamounts (2-6-2) at the Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, VT. And they started the weekend on the right foot, handily beating the host Catamounts by a final score of 5-1 in Gopher Hockey's first ever trip to Burlington. Minnesota was just too big and too fast for Vermont, as the Gophers improved their record on Friday nights to 4-1-1 after struggling on Friday's last season.
Here is what I saw.
The Gophers attempted 74 shots, with 34 actually making it on goal, 3 hitting the post, and 5 finding the back of the net.
Minnesota special teams continue to impress as they have killed off 17 of their last 18 penalties.
The Gophers scored 4 of their 5 goals at even strength tonight. That had been a point of concern for Minnesota the last couple of weeks, as a majority of their scoring had come on the power play.
Seth Ambrosz is no longer just an automatic penalty or two every game. He's starting to matter on offense, and is a much needed force in front of the net. Ambrosz was +3 and had Minnesota's first goal of the game in the first period. The Gophers have been looking to create more traffic in front of the opposing goaltender, and you could see Ambrosz getting to the net, getting rebounds, tipping pucks, and taking away the Goaltenders vision.
Nick Bjugstad had a very active game on the scorers sheet with 3 penalties, 1 goal, and 1 assist. His goal tonight gives him the team lead with 7 on the season. Haula and Rau each have 6. Haula leads the team in assists with 9.
Zach Budish gets in the scoring column again with a goal and an assist, after a goal and 2 assists last weekend versus the Badgers. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come after a slow start.
Mike Reilly gets his first collegiate goal as a Minnesota Gopher to go with his 6 assists. Nice to see from a kid that everyone (including me) has been pretty critical of so far this season. Said Reilly about this goal…. "It was kind of a weak shot, and just snuck in there".
Adam Wilcox was good early, and then not really tested much the rest of the way, finishing with 22 saves on 23 shots. There were even times in the third period that Wilcox looked bored in the Gopher net. He did have an assist in the game as well on Bjugstad's goal. He improved his record to 7-1-2.
The Gophers will take on the Catamounts again tomorrow night at 6:00 PM (Central). The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports North.
By Thom Wynn
The #4 ranked Gophers (8-2-2, 4-2-2 WCHA) headed east this weekend for a two game series versus the Vermont Catamounts (2-6-2) at the Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, VT. And they started the weekend on the right foot, handily beating the host Catamounts by a final score of 5-1 in Gopher Hockey's first ever trip to Burlington. Minnesota was just too big and too fast for Vermont, as the Gophers improved their record on Friday nights to 4-1-1 after struggling on Friday's last season.
Here is what I saw.
The Gophers attempted 74 shots, with 34 actually making it on goal, 3 hitting the post, and 5 finding the back of the net.
Minnesota special teams continue to impress as they have killed off 17 of their last 18 penalties.
The Gophers scored 4 of their 5 goals at even strength tonight. That had been a point of concern for Minnesota the last couple of weeks, as a majority of their scoring had come on the power play.
Seth Ambrosz is no longer just an automatic penalty or two every game. He's starting to matter on offense, and is a much needed force in front of the net. Ambrosz was +3 and had Minnesota's first goal of the game in the first period. The Gophers have been looking to create more traffic in front of the opposing goaltender, and you could see Ambrosz getting to the net, getting rebounds, tipping pucks, and taking away the Goaltenders vision.
Nick Bjugstad had a very active game on the scorers sheet with 3 penalties, 1 goal, and 1 assist. His goal tonight gives him the team lead with 7 on the season. Haula and Rau each have 6. Haula leads the team in assists with 9.
Zach Budish gets in the scoring column again with a goal and an assist, after a goal and 2 assists last weekend versus the Badgers. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come after a slow start.
Mike Reilly gets his first collegiate goal as a Minnesota Gopher to go with his 6 assists. Nice to see from a kid that everyone (including me) has been pretty critical of so far this season. Said Reilly about this goal…. "It was kind of a weak shot, and just snuck in there".
Adam Wilcox was good early, and then not really tested much the rest of the way, finishing with 22 saves on 23 shots. There were even times in the third period that Wilcox looked bored in the Gopher net. He did have an assist in the game as well on Bjugstad's goal. He improved his record to 7-1-2.
The Gophers will take on the Catamounts again tomorrow night at 6:00 PM (Central). The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports North.