The Gophers (0-0-0 B1G, 9-1-1 Overall) and UMD (2-2-0 NCHC, 5-5-1 Overall) squared off tonight at Mariucci in front of 9,918. UMD got on the board first in the opening period, but that's all they would get as Minnesota counted off six, unanswered, and went on to defeat the Bulldogs handily, 6-1.
Here is what I saw…
* Minnesota was very sloppy in the first ten minutes of the game, mishandling the puck, falling down away from the play, getting walked by the UMD forwards, and taking penalties. They must have thrown at least three passes back to the point with nobody there. Sloppy play led to a penalty, which eventually led to a UMD goal (after the penalty had expired) when Wilcox lost location of the puck. You had the feeling there for a while that the Friday night funk may have come back.
* Of course, after their sluggish start, the Gophers thrashed the Bulldogs the rest of the way. You could see how frustrated the Bulldogs were most of the second period, and well into the third. It didn’t look like a sending a message for Sundays game kind of anger, it just looked like pure frustration and embarrassment of being on the losing end of a lopsided game.
* Surprisingly, 36 saves is a career high for Adam Wilcox. He played well tonight, but didn't have to make a lot of spectacular saves. He got good help from his defense. And when I say defense, I include the forwards in there. A backchecking Sam Warning took away an easy goal in the third period, by tying up the UMD players stick. Rau had made a similar play late in the first period.
* Taylor Cammaratta, all he does is rack up points!
* Hudson Fasching put on a stick handling clinic at times tonight, undressing the Bulldog defense with his slick moves around the net, and using his big body to shield the puck as good as anyone. Like a couple of his teammates have said, he's like Zach Budish, but with better hands.
* UMD plays a very similar style to Boston College, in that they are able to get away with a lot of subtle little hooks, holds and trips. Frustrating for their opponent, but effective. Not tonight, of course! It’s really nice to see the Gophers overcome this style of play, as they did in both BC games. I think that’s the sign of a disciplined and well coached team.
Here are the post game comments…
UMD Head Coach Scott Sandelin:
Regarding the game…. “I thought we got off to a good start, playing well and doing the right things. Then they got one back, and from that point they got the momentum. I thought we made it pretty easy for them at times, especially in the second period. I thought our guys tried to get back in the game, but when we did have chances, (Adam) Wilcox made saves. We could have been a little bit hungrier around the net. We got away from doing the right things. They’re a good transition team, so we tried to make it tough for them. I don’t know if we forgot that there was another part of the game to play? You know, they’re good. Certainly good teams capitalize. They capitalized on a couple of mistakes, and put pucks in the net. Where we had opportunities, (Adam) Wilcox was there to make the save. At the end of it, you move on, and you learn from it, and correct some things, and come back on Sunday”
Regarding the rivalry now that they are no longer in the same conference…. “It didn’t seem any different to me. It’s playing Minnesota, and we’ve played them a lot. It’s always a good challenge to come in and beat them. I’d like to get them in our building a couple of times. Maybe we can work on that (smiling)”
Minnesota Head Coach Don Lucia:
Regarding the game…. “It was probably fortunate we were only down one. Then I think us getting that first goal kind of got us going a little bit. Then Cammaratta made a couple of plays. I thought we had a really good second period, got some pucks down low and made some play and had some good shots. The two passes (Taylor) Camaratta made, AJ (Michaelson) made a great play, going hard to the net. And Justin (Kloos) was coming through the neutral zone with speed, and he just kind of sauced it. He made a really nice play on that goal as well. I like to see some of those hard goals when their grinding a little bit, and AJ going hard to the net. Those are good goals. Really, the difference for me was Wilcox was very good in the nets, and we had a little puck luck go our way, and they didn’t. But, that was not a 6-1 game. The (Travis) Boyd, (Tom) Serratore and (Seth) Ambroz line scored a couple of goals tonight. That’s great. Tommy is playing much better than he was the first part of the season. That’s Tommy getting a good hard goal. He’s got a good shot. His penalty killing was very good. Boyd made a nice play. Actually, Ambroz made the play down low, knocking the defenseman off the puck and found Boyd. Boyd made a nice play on that goal. Great for Kyle (Rau) to score a goal. It had been a while for him, and I know he was a little frustrated. Our team tonight had six different players score a goal. That’s kind of our team, and the way it has to be. We’re going to get the good contributions. AJ (Michaelson) scored his first goal, and he had a good week of practice. So, it’s nice to see guys have a good week and get rewarded in the game. I feel good that we won the game. I also know there were flaws to our game tonight. I know that it was not a 6-1 game. Maybe the scoreboard says that, but that’s not the way the game was played. We have to do some things better on Sunday if we want a chance to win the game”
Regarding Adam Wilcox…. “I think we relied on him a little too much tonight. So we have to tighten things up for the rematch on Sunday. Adam was good. He was on top. I thought last week, when he played that first night, that was as good as he’s played all year long. Then we came back with Shibby (Mike Shibrowski) in game two”
Regarding the excessive penalties…. “You know what, there was some hard plays, but there wasn’t too much after the whistle. It was just a couple of teams trying to compete hard”
Regarding the rivalry now that they are no longer in the same conference…. “It might wane as years go on, because the conference games take on added importance. But it’s something we talked about. We’ve got our instate games and right now we’re 5-0 in those games, and that’s important for us”
Regarding Kyle Rau…. “That’s when Kyle’s at his best. Kyle can do his talking, but he has to guard that he isn’t carrying it too far, where it takes him off his game. That’s happened a couple of times. Just play hard. The big thing we try to tell our guys always is play hard whistle to whistle. When the whistle stops, get ready for the next shift”
Regarding Hudson Fasching…. “He had a shift where Kyle scored his goal, and he made a dominant play down low with the puck, was strong and took it to the net. That helped create the goal. I think Sam (Warning) then got it and wrapped it around, and Kyle came in and cleaned it up. That’s Hudson’s type of game. He’s a big body playing with those two guys”
Regarding the power play…. “We’re getting better. Your best penalty killer is always your goaltender, but we blocked some shots, and had a little puck luck tonight. As far as I’m concerned, we gave them too many opportunities. We have to be a little more disciplined on Sunday. We’ve been rotating guys in different spots. Hard decisions on who’s in our lineup and whose not. (Michael) Brodzinski was brought in to be an offensive defenseman. He’s got the good hands, he can shoot it, and he’s got a very low panic point with the puck. I think he needs to play in those situations, but he’s also gotta earn the right to be in our lineup every night. He’s getting better on his play without the puck. I think Coach Guentzel has done a good job working with him. Both those freshman D are getting better. So they’re pushing the older guys, and that’s all part of the process. Seven guys are a bit of a puzzle. They all bring a little bit different piece to the game, and it just comes down to which certain pieces do we need to fit back there”
Adam Wilcox:
Regarding the game…. “UMD’s a good team. They get good starts, that’s kind of what they’re known for. We played them last year they had a couple of good starts too. You just have to be ready for that. They got a goal right away. I didn’t see where the puck went off me. I thought we responded well, getting three goals right away in a short time span. So I thought we did a good job after that. It was a tough game. They outshot us I think by six shots. UMD’s a good team. I don’t think the score really showed the type of game it was. They’re going to come out hard Sunday. They had some good spirit that made it hard on our D, and made it tough on me, especially close to the house. I expect them to do that again on Sunday“
Regarding the defenseman…. “All our D are good. They’re skilled, they all make good plays, and you don’t really have one D that you can say is our worst defenseman. Every night, and all week in practice, they’re always working hard. No matter who’s in the lineup, I’m not too worried, they’ve always got my back”
Regarding the power play…. “We’ve been working on it a lot in practice. The young guys are starting to get in the shot lanes, starting to figure out who is in, and where to go. We’re getting less confused throughout the two minutes. I think we’re making huge steps, and obviously once we get to the point where we were last year, we’ll have one of the top power plays in the nation again”
Tom Serratore:
Regarding the game…. “(AJ) Michaelson went hard to the net, and Cammy (Taylor Cammaratta) gave a great pass to him, and that really sparked us. It was great to see Michaelson get on the board there. Obviously, you want all of the lines to get after it, and do as well as they can and get more scoring opportunities than the opposing team. I think we were able to do that tonight. It’s good to see all four lines doing well. I’m just trying to focus on the little things right now. It’s nice to get on the board here the last couple of games. It’s a great team effort. My linemates are working well together. I have give them a lot of credit as well. I think we just try to take care of the little things, and the big things will take care of themselves. We played with each other a lot last year, so we know where each other will be on the ice, and that showed tonight. The last couple of games I’ve felt more comfortable. Hopefully I get into a swing here. I feel more comfortable with the lines so we’ll see if they keep us together, because we’re feeling pretty good right now”
Regarding the rivalry now that they are no longer in the same conference…. “I’ve said it before, the Minnesota rivalries are huge for us. We want to be the best team in Minnesota. We’re 4-0 coming into the game tonight, and that’s something we take pride in here at the U”
Regarding the power play…. “You know, Mike Guentzel does a great job showing us what we need to do. He looks at the other teams positionally and what not, and we know where we’ve gotta be. I’ve gotta give him a lot of credit. We just try to go out there, battle, block everything in site and try to get the puck two hundred every time”
Kyle Rau:
Regarding the game…. “We got three goals in three minutes, so that helped. That was huge. We had some good shots. Tom Serratore’s shot was unbelievable, so that helps too. Our wingers still have a lot of responsibility, with blocking shots and stuff. It’s just a different game. You’ve gotta play both ends of the ice, and wear your legs down twice. It’s OK though”
Regarding balanced scoring…. “It’s huge. Everyone feels good about their game at the end of the day, so we get some confidence going, which is big”
Regarding his goal…. “It feels good, finally. It was an easy one. Warns (Sam Warning) and (Hudson) Fasching did all the work, so I just tapped it in. It felt good though”
Regarding the rivalry now that they are no longer in the same conference…. “It’s still a big deal to us. In state games, we want to win those, and I’m sure they (UMD) do too. I’m sure they’ll come out ready to go on Sunday”
Regarding the excessive penalties…. “It just happens once the game gets… out of reach, or whatever you want to call it. Things happen like that happen. We knew it was coming, so that’s alright. I like that stuff, so it doesn’t bother me at all”
The Gophers will take on the Bulldogs again Sunday at 4:00 PM (Central). The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports North-PLUS.
Here is what I saw…
* Minnesota was very sloppy in the first ten minutes of the game, mishandling the puck, falling down away from the play, getting walked by the UMD forwards, and taking penalties. They must have thrown at least three passes back to the point with nobody there. Sloppy play led to a penalty, which eventually led to a UMD goal (after the penalty had expired) when Wilcox lost location of the puck. You had the feeling there for a while that the Friday night funk may have come back.
* Of course, after their sluggish start, the Gophers thrashed the Bulldogs the rest of the way. You could see how frustrated the Bulldogs were most of the second period, and well into the third. It didn’t look like a sending a message for Sundays game kind of anger, it just looked like pure frustration and embarrassment of being on the losing end of a lopsided game.
* Surprisingly, 36 saves is a career high for Adam Wilcox. He played well tonight, but didn't have to make a lot of spectacular saves. He got good help from his defense. And when I say defense, I include the forwards in there. A backchecking Sam Warning took away an easy goal in the third period, by tying up the UMD players stick. Rau had made a similar play late in the first period.
* Taylor Cammaratta, all he does is rack up points!
* Hudson Fasching put on a stick handling clinic at times tonight, undressing the Bulldog defense with his slick moves around the net, and using his big body to shield the puck as good as anyone. Like a couple of his teammates have said, he's like Zach Budish, but with better hands.
* UMD plays a very similar style to Boston College, in that they are able to get away with a lot of subtle little hooks, holds and trips. Frustrating for their opponent, but effective. Not tonight, of course! It’s really nice to see the Gophers overcome this style of play, as they did in both BC games. I think that’s the sign of a disciplined and well coached team.
Here are the post game comments…
UMD Head Coach Scott Sandelin:
Regarding the game…. “I thought we got off to a good start, playing well and doing the right things. Then they got one back, and from that point they got the momentum. I thought we made it pretty easy for them at times, especially in the second period. I thought our guys tried to get back in the game, but when we did have chances, (Adam) Wilcox made saves. We could have been a little bit hungrier around the net. We got away from doing the right things. They’re a good transition team, so we tried to make it tough for them. I don’t know if we forgot that there was another part of the game to play? You know, they’re good. Certainly good teams capitalize. They capitalized on a couple of mistakes, and put pucks in the net. Where we had opportunities, (Adam) Wilcox was there to make the save. At the end of it, you move on, and you learn from it, and correct some things, and come back on Sunday”
Regarding the rivalry now that they are no longer in the same conference…. “It didn’t seem any different to me. It’s playing Minnesota, and we’ve played them a lot. It’s always a good challenge to come in and beat them. I’d like to get them in our building a couple of times. Maybe we can work on that (smiling)”
Minnesota Head Coach Don Lucia:
Regarding the game…. “It was probably fortunate we were only down one. Then I think us getting that first goal kind of got us going a little bit. Then Cammaratta made a couple of plays. I thought we had a really good second period, got some pucks down low and made some play and had some good shots. The two passes (Taylor) Camaratta made, AJ (Michaelson) made a great play, going hard to the net. And Justin (Kloos) was coming through the neutral zone with speed, and he just kind of sauced it. He made a really nice play on that goal as well. I like to see some of those hard goals when their grinding a little bit, and AJ going hard to the net. Those are good goals. Really, the difference for me was Wilcox was very good in the nets, and we had a little puck luck go our way, and they didn’t. But, that was not a 6-1 game. The (Travis) Boyd, (Tom) Serratore and (Seth) Ambroz line scored a couple of goals tonight. That’s great. Tommy is playing much better than he was the first part of the season. That’s Tommy getting a good hard goal. He’s got a good shot. His penalty killing was very good. Boyd made a nice play. Actually, Ambroz made the play down low, knocking the defenseman off the puck and found Boyd. Boyd made a nice play on that goal. Great for Kyle (Rau) to score a goal. It had been a while for him, and I know he was a little frustrated. Our team tonight had six different players score a goal. That’s kind of our team, and the way it has to be. We’re going to get the good contributions. AJ (Michaelson) scored his first goal, and he had a good week of practice. So, it’s nice to see guys have a good week and get rewarded in the game. I feel good that we won the game. I also know there were flaws to our game tonight. I know that it was not a 6-1 game. Maybe the scoreboard says that, but that’s not the way the game was played. We have to do some things better on Sunday if we want a chance to win the game”
Regarding Adam Wilcox…. “I think we relied on him a little too much tonight. So we have to tighten things up for the rematch on Sunday. Adam was good. He was on top. I thought last week, when he played that first night, that was as good as he’s played all year long. Then we came back with Shibby (Mike Shibrowski) in game two”
Regarding the excessive penalties…. “You know what, there was some hard plays, but there wasn’t too much after the whistle. It was just a couple of teams trying to compete hard”
Regarding the rivalry now that they are no longer in the same conference…. “It might wane as years go on, because the conference games take on added importance. But it’s something we talked about. We’ve got our instate games and right now we’re 5-0 in those games, and that’s important for us”
Regarding Kyle Rau…. “That’s when Kyle’s at his best. Kyle can do his talking, but he has to guard that he isn’t carrying it too far, where it takes him off his game. That’s happened a couple of times. Just play hard. The big thing we try to tell our guys always is play hard whistle to whistle. When the whistle stops, get ready for the next shift”
Regarding Hudson Fasching…. “He had a shift where Kyle scored his goal, and he made a dominant play down low with the puck, was strong and took it to the net. That helped create the goal. I think Sam (Warning) then got it and wrapped it around, and Kyle came in and cleaned it up. That’s Hudson’s type of game. He’s a big body playing with those two guys”
Regarding the power play…. “We’re getting better. Your best penalty killer is always your goaltender, but we blocked some shots, and had a little puck luck tonight. As far as I’m concerned, we gave them too many opportunities. We have to be a little more disciplined on Sunday. We’ve been rotating guys in different spots. Hard decisions on who’s in our lineup and whose not. (Michael) Brodzinski was brought in to be an offensive defenseman. He’s got the good hands, he can shoot it, and he’s got a very low panic point with the puck. I think he needs to play in those situations, but he’s also gotta earn the right to be in our lineup every night. He’s getting better on his play without the puck. I think Coach Guentzel has done a good job working with him. Both those freshman D are getting better. So they’re pushing the older guys, and that’s all part of the process. Seven guys are a bit of a puzzle. They all bring a little bit different piece to the game, and it just comes down to which certain pieces do we need to fit back there”
Adam Wilcox:
Regarding the game…. “UMD’s a good team. They get good starts, that’s kind of what they’re known for. We played them last year they had a couple of good starts too. You just have to be ready for that. They got a goal right away. I didn’t see where the puck went off me. I thought we responded well, getting three goals right away in a short time span. So I thought we did a good job after that. It was a tough game. They outshot us I think by six shots. UMD’s a good team. I don’t think the score really showed the type of game it was. They’re going to come out hard Sunday. They had some good spirit that made it hard on our D, and made it tough on me, especially close to the house. I expect them to do that again on Sunday“
Regarding the defenseman…. “All our D are good. They’re skilled, they all make good plays, and you don’t really have one D that you can say is our worst defenseman. Every night, and all week in practice, they’re always working hard. No matter who’s in the lineup, I’m not too worried, they’ve always got my back”
Regarding the power play…. “We’ve been working on it a lot in practice. The young guys are starting to get in the shot lanes, starting to figure out who is in, and where to go. We’re getting less confused throughout the two minutes. I think we’re making huge steps, and obviously once we get to the point where we were last year, we’ll have one of the top power plays in the nation again”
Tom Serratore:
Regarding the game…. “(AJ) Michaelson went hard to the net, and Cammy (Taylor Cammaratta) gave a great pass to him, and that really sparked us. It was great to see Michaelson get on the board there. Obviously, you want all of the lines to get after it, and do as well as they can and get more scoring opportunities than the opposing team. I think we were able to do that tonight. It’s good to see all four lines doing well. I’m just trying to focus on the little things right now. It’s nice to get on the board here the last couple of games. It’s a great team effort. My linemates are working well together. I have give them a lot of credit as well. I think we just try to take care of the little things, and the big things will take care of themselves. We played with each other a lot last year, so we know where each other will be on the ice, and that showed tonight. The last couple of games I’ve felt more comfortable. Hopefully I get into a swing here. I feel more comfortable with the lines so we’ll see if they keep us together, because we’re feeling pretty good right now”
Regarding the rivalry now that they are no longer in the same conference…. “I’ve said it before, the Minnesota rivalries are huge for us. We want to be the best team in Minnesota. We’re 4-0 coming into the game tonight, and that’s something we take pride in here at the U”
Regarding the power play…. “You know, Mike Guentzel does a great job showing us what we need to do. He looks at the other teams positionally and what not, and we know where we’ve gotta be. I’ve gotta give him a lot of credit. We just try to go out there, battle, block everything in site and try to get the puck two hundred every time”
Kyle Rau:
Regarding the game…. “We got three goals in three minutes, so that helped. That was huge. We had some good shots. Tom Serratore’s shot was unbelievable, so that helps too. Our wingers still have a lot of responsibility, with blocking shots and stuff. It’s just a different game. You’ve gotta play both ends of the ice, and wear your legs down twice. It’s OK though”
Regarding balanced scoring…. “It’s huge. Everyone feels good about their game at the end of the day, so we get some confidence going, which is big”
Regarding his goal…. “It feels good, finally. It was an easy one. Warns (Sam Warning) and (Hudson) Fasching did all the work, so I just tapped it in. It felt good though”
Regarding the rivalry now that they are no longer in the same conference…. “It’s still a big deal to us. In state games, we want to win those, and I’m sure they (UMD) do too. I’m sure they’ll come out ready to go on Sunday”
Regarding the excessive penalties…. “It just happens once the game gets… out of reach, or whatever you want to call it. Things happen like that happen. We knew it was coming, so that’s alright. I like that stuff, so it doesn’t bother me at all”
The Gophers will take on the Bulldogs again Sunday at 4:00 PM (Central). The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports North-PLUS.