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The Gophers made it look easy on Friday night as they destroyed Michigan, 6-2. Kyle Rau recorded a hat trick while Mike Reilly added a goal and three assists as the Maroon and Gold looked like a team that could skate with anyone in the country.
Rau’s Hat Trick
As he tends to do, Kyle Rau stepped up in a big game for the Gophers. The senior captain opened the scoring on a great feed by Taylor Cammarata. He would go on to add a short-handed goal in the second and cap it off with a breakaway tally in the third.
“He usually steps up in the big moment or big game,” said Don Lucia.
It wasn’t unusual that Rau scored, it was more how he scored. His first goal was right out in front, where he likes to be, but his other two were long shots. Both just pretty snipes.
“There hasn’t been many from that distance, from the top of the circle,” said Lucia.
Rau was just happy to score a couple upstairs.
“I don’t know the last time I scored off the ice so it was pretty cool I got three of them,” joked Rau.
Different Team
Just a couple weeks, it looked like the Gophers season was over. A loss to Merrimack, getting swept in Ann Arbor, and getting swept out of the NSCC was not how Lucia wanted to start the New Year. After last week’s sweep over Ohio State, it looks like the Gophers may be turning a corner on the season.
“I think going into last weekend that we knew we had to start to get the ball rolling a little bit before we fell behind in the standings,” said Mike Reilly. “The most important thing is playing our game and coming together as a team…It’s another step in the right direction for us.”
The response from the floundering team has been great to see as a fan. After the NSCC, I thought the team could go two ways. They could tank and underachieve the rest of the year or they could start defending and start capitalizing on chances. It won’t be perfect the rest of the year but the Gophers knew how important this game was.
“Guys were emotionally invested in the game,” said Lucia. “Their back is against the wall, now we’ve responded.”
Michigan’s legendary coach, Red Berenson, noticed a changed Minnesota team from their last meeting just over a month ago.
“They’re a different team,” said Berenson. “We knew they would be and we had to match that and we weren’t a good group.”
Improving Defense
One of the big reasons for Minnesota success against the Wolverines was the team defense in front of Adam Wilcox. Michigan came into the game leading the nation in scoring with over four goals per game. On Friday, they mustered just 23 shots on net.
“We knew coming in that they’re a team that wants to score five, six, seven goals a night,” said Reilly. “If you can hold them to at least two or less…we’re going to be coming out on top like we did.”
Lucia mentioned a lack of mistakes contributing to the limiting of Michigan’s chances.
“I was happy with how hard we defended tonight,” said Lucia. “That was a big thing for us. We didn’t shorten the rink for them. We didn’t give them a bunch of two-on-ones or three-on-twos.”
As a team, the Gophers were great all game. The Maroon and Gold blocked 15 shots compared to just eight for the Wolverines.
“We defended really well tonight,” said Rau. “They got one lucky [powerplay]goal then we kept them off the board until the last five minutes. We’re happy with our defensive effort.”
By the Numbers
300 Wins for the Gophers at Mariucci Arena after Friday’s victory.
150 Career points in the Maroon and Gold for Kyle Rau after his first goal.
4 Points for Mike Reilly, a new career high.
Three Stars of the Game
#3 Taylor Cammarata notched two assists.
#2 Mike Reilly had a goal and three helpers.
#1 Kyle Rau tallied the hat trick.
What’s Next
The Gophers will look for the sweep tomorrow at 7 p.m. against the Wolverines. A win would put Minnesota tied with Michigan atop the Big Ten.
“We want to win the Big Ten title and we’ve got to go through Michigan,” said Rau. “We’re still not where we want to be, we’ve got to get them again tomorrow.”
Rau’s Hat Trick
As he tends to do, Kyle Rau stepped up in a big game for the Gophers. The senior captain opened the scoring on a great feed by Taylor Cammarata. He would go on to add a short-handed goal in the second and cap it off with a breakaway tally in the third.
“He usually steps up in the big moment or big game,” said Don Lucia.
It wasn’t unusual that Rau scored, it was more how he scored. His first goal was right out in front, where he likes to be, but his other two were long shots. Both just pretty snipes.
“There hasn’t been many from that distance, from the top of the circle,” said Lucia.
Rau was just happy to score a couple upstairs.
“I don’t know the last time I scored off the ice so it was pretty cool I got three of them,” joked Rau.
Different Team
Just a couple weeks, it looked like the Gophers season was over. A loss to Merrimack, getting swept in Ann Arbor, and getting swept out of the NSCC was not how Lucia wanted to start the New Year. After last week’s sweep over Ohio State, it looks like the Gophers may be turning a corner on the season.
“I think going into last weekend that we knew we had to start to get the ball rolling a little bit before we fell behind in the standings,” said Mike Reilly. “The most important thing is playing our game and coming together as a team…It’s another step in the right direction for us.”
The response from the floundering team has been great to see as a fan. After the NSCC, I thought the team could go two ways. They could tank and underachieve the rest of the year or they could start defending and start capitalizing on chances. It won’t be perfect the rest of the year but the Gophers knew how important this game was.
“Guys were emotionally invested in the game,” said Lucia. “Their back is against the wall, now we’ve responded.”
Michigan’s legendary coach, Red Berenson, noticed a changed Minnesota team from their last meeting just over a month ago.
“They’re a different team,” said Berenson. “We knew they would be and we had to match that and we weren’t a good group.”
Improving Defense
One of the big reasons for Minnesota success against the Wolverines was the team defense in front of Adam Wilcox. Michigan came into the game leading the nation in scoring with over four goals per game. On Friday, they mustered just 23 shots on net.
“We knew coming in that they’re a team that wants to score five, six, seven goals a night,” said Reilly. “If you can hold them to at least two or less…we’re going to be coming out on top like we did.”
Lucia mentioned a lack of mistakes contributing to the limiting of Michigan’s chances.
“I was happy with how hard we defended tonight,” said Lucia. “That was a big thing for us. We didn’t shorten the rink for them. We didn’t give them a bunch of two-on-ones or three-on-twos.”
As a team, the Gophers were great all game. The Maroon and Gold blocked 15 shots compared to just eight for the Wolverines.
“We defended really well tonight,” said Rau. “They got one lucky [powerplay]goal then we kept them off the board until the last five minutes. We’re happy with our defensive effort.”
By the Numbers
300 Wins for the Gophers at Mariucci Arena after Friday’s victory.
150 Career points in the Maroon and Gold for Kyle Rau after his first goal.
4 Points for Mike Reilly, a new career high.
Three Stars of the Game
#3 Taylor Cammarata notched two assists.
#2 Mike Reilly had a goal and three helpers.
#1 Kyle Rau tallied the hat trick.
What’s Next
The Gophers will look for the sweep tomorrow at 7 p.m. against the Wolverines. A win would put Minnesota tied with Michigan atop the Big Ten.
“We want to win the Big Ten title and we’ve got to go through Michigan,” said Rau. “We’re still not where we want to be, we’ve got to get them again tomorrow.”