The #2 ranked Gophers (21-6-4, 13-6-4 WCHA) defeated the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs (10-17-4, 8-13-4 WCHA) 5-3 tonight at Mariucci Arena, in front of 10,078. With the Gophers win, and a loss by St. Cloud State tonight at Colorado College, the Gophers are now only one point behind the Huskies. Minnesota is tied with Nebraska Omaha, who are idle this weekend.
Here is what I saw.
* The ice at Mariucci seemed particularly beautiful tonight. Smooth and perfect, not beat to hell like the ice at Soldier Field.
* Power Play was crap early, but gradually got better. Couldn't get anything set up in the zone first time out. Minnesota went 0-5 on the power play, but picked up a short handed goal. UMD was efficient on the power play, scoring twice in four opportunities.
* UMD was physical with Adam Wilcox early and often, and it looked like it was frustrating the Gopher Goaltender. At one point early in the first period, a UMD player literally pushed Wilcox all the way out of the crease.
* Most of the Gophers didn't look real inspired tonight. Nate Condon and Tom Serratore stood out in my opinion, because they never stopped hustling. Serratore always does the dirty work.
* UMD Head Coach Scott Sandlin was hot after the game. He was very unhappy about the Gophers first goal, and the officiating in general. He felt like the first goal for the Gophers was inconclusive, although it seemed pretty clear it was a good goal.
Here are the post game comments:
Minnesota Head Coach Don Lucia:
Regarding the game..."I thought the emotions weren't quite there tonight. I felt, emotionally, we got more involved as the game went on. We got better as the game went on. I give our guys credit for finding a way to win the third period, and win the game. Sometimes you get a 2-0 lead, and you feel like it's almost game over. I never felt that way tonight"
Regarding the second line…"Haula's line was obviously the key tonight, scoring four of the five goals. I thought our top end guys made the plays when they had the opportunities to make the plays, and they finished, and that was the difference tonight"
Regarding sloppy Defense…"We ran around a few times, and they scored two goals on the power play. So we only gave up one five on five goal. Feel good about that. They did a good job on their power play, and we got caught out there in the second period a couple of times, especially that last one (last goal by UMD), you know, really tired"
Regarding Adam Wilcox…"I thought that he did a good job tonight. Made a big save there at the end. Their third one went off (Mark) Alt's leg and ricocheted to the guy at the back door, and we left the guy in front on the other one, so, he made some good saves when we needed them"
Regarding Kyle Rau…"Well, I told him that if he got his hair cut, there would be less wind resistance (Smiling). He's a guy that we've gotta get going, he hadn't scored a goal in a while. He scores big goals, and tonight he got the game winner"
Erik Haula:
Regarding the game…"After a stretch of five games on the road, it's nice to be home. We've gotta get these points here at home. I definitely think we can play better. First and second period, it was a little sloppy. We've gotta be better at little things, and I think we got better and played really good in the third. We weren't playing that well, and we knew that we had to come out hard in the third so we could get the two points"
Regarding playing with Nate Condon…"Usually it's (Zach) Budish and (Sam) Warning that I've been playing with, but having (Nate) Condon there, he's a really fast guy, and a little different look. Obviously Zach's a great player too, and I like playing with him, but it's a fresh look, and a good spark"
Regarding Saturday's game…"We can't be happy. We can't have a full stomach after winning one game. We definitely gotta be a little pissed off about how we played in the first and second period, and come out hungry in the first tomorrow"
Regarding the standings… "Obviously, we all look at the games after, but there's nothing we can do. We just have to win our games and see what happens.
Sam Warning:
Regarding his highlight reel goal… "I have to give some credit to Christian Isackson. He and I work after practice on some moves that you'd see (Pavel) Datsyuk do, I guess"
The Gophers will take on the Bulldogs again tomorrow night at Mariucci Arena. Game time is 7:00 PM (Central). The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
Here is what I saw.
* The ice at Mariucci seemed particularly beautiful tonight. Smooth and perfect, not beat to hell like the ice at Soldier Field.
* Power Play was crap early, but gradually got better. Couldn't get anything set up in the zone first time out. Minnesota went 0-5 on the power play, but picked up a short handed goal. UMD was efficient on the power play, scoring twice in four opportunities.
* UMD was physical with Adam Wilcox early and often, and it looked like it was frustrating the Gopher Goaltender. At one point early in the first period, a UMD player literally pushed Wilcox all the way out of the crease.
* Most of the Gophers didn't look real inspired tonight. Nate Condon and Tom Serratore stood out in my opinion, because they never stopped hustling. Serratore always does the dirty work.
* UMD Head Coach Scott Sandlin was hot after the game. He was very unhappy about the Gophers first goal, and the officiating in general. He felt like the first goal for the Gophers was inconclusive, although it seemed pretty clear it was a good goal.
Here are the post game comments:
Minnesota Head Coach Don Lucia:
Regarding the game..."I thought the emotions weren't quite there tonight. I felt, emotionally, we got more involved as the game went on. We got better as the game went on. I give our guys credit for finding a way to win the third period, and win the game. Sometimes you get a 2-0 lead, and you feel like it's almost game over. I never felt that way tonight"
Regarding the second line…"Haula's line was obviously the key tonight, scoring four of the five goals. I thought our top end guys made the plays when they had the opportunities to make the plays, and they finished, and that was the difference tonight"
Regarding sloppy Defense…"We ran around a few times, and they scored two goals on the power play. So we only gave up one five on five goal. Feel good about that. They did a good job on their power play, and we got caught out there in the second period a couple of times, especially that last one (last goal by UMD), you know, really tired"
Regarding Adam Wilcox…"I thought that he did a good job tonight. Made a big save there at the end. Their third one went off (Mark) Alt's leg and ricocheted to the guy at the back door, and we left the guy in front on the other one, so, he made some good saves when we needed them"
Regarding Kyle Rau…"Well, I told him that if he got his hair cut, there would be less wind resistance (Smiling). He's a guy that we've gotta get going, he hadn't scored a goal in a while. He scores big goals, and tonight he got the game winner"
Erik Haula:
Regarding the game…"After a stretch of five games on the road, it's nice to be home. We've gotta get these points here at home. I definitely think we can play better. First and second period, it was a little sloppy. We've gotta be better at little things, and I think we got better and played really good in the third. We weren't playing that well, and we knew that we had to come out hard in the third so we could get the two points"
Regarding playing with Nate Condon…"Usually it's (Zach) Budish and (Sam) Warning that I've been playing with, but having (Nate) Condon there, he's a really fast guy, and a little different look. Obviously Zach's a great player too, and I like playing with him, but it's a fresh look, and a good spark"
Regarding Saturday's game…"We can't be happy. We can't have a full stomach after winning one game. We definitely gotta be a little pissed off about how we played in the first and second period, and come out hungry in the first tomorrow"
Regarding the standings… "Obviously, we all look at the games after, but there's nothing we can do. We just have to win our games and see what happens.
Sam Warning:
Regarding his highlight reel goal… "I have to give some credit to Christian Isackson. He and I work after practice on some moves that you'd see (Pavel) Datsyuk do, I guess"
The Gophers will take on the Bulldogs again tomorrow night at Mariucci Arena. Game time is 7:00 PM (Central). The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.