Seawolves Trip Up Gophers

The Gophers missed an opportunity to move past North Dakota into 6th place in the WCHA standings after losing their Saturday rematch with Alaska-Anchorage by a 2 - 1 score.

Zach Budish got the Gophers on the board in the first (completing a 5 point weekend), but Seawolf senior forward Josh Lunden evened things up with a power play goal just 37 seconds in to the second period.

The game was sealed by Kevin Clark, as he got back at the Gophers for their shorthanded tally on Friday night with one of his own a few minutes later in the frame. The Gophers put on some pressure in the last 5 - 8 minutes, but couldn't come up with the equalizer.

Jon Othlius picked up the win with saves 23, while Alex Kangas takes the loss with 22.

It's off week as the next series isn't until February 12th/13th when they visit Denver. Both games will be live on FSN North.

Gophers Dispatch Of Seawolves 7-4

Mike Carman and Jordan Schroeder both had a pair of goals, while freshman Zach Budish had his first four-point game of his career as the Gophers claimed a 7-4 victory of the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves on Friday night at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

Things were a little dicey early in the contest, as the Seawolves scored two goals on their first four shots, so despite dominating the first period, the Gophers were tied at 2-2 after one.

However, senior David Fischer would get his first goal of the season less than a minute into the second period, with Schroeder adding his second of the night -- this one coming while short-handed -- later in the period to bump the lead to 4-2. Less than a minute later, the Seawolves again cut the lead to just a goal, but Minnesota rattled off the next three goals to secure the win.

The Seawolves have been a better Saturday night team all year, as they have wins against North Dakota, Denver, Minnesota State, and two victories vs. Colorado College on Saturdays after losing on Fridays. So, the Gophers will need to bring this same kind of effort on Saturday night if they hope to return home with four points.

With Home Ice Now A Longshot, Gophers Head to Alaska

After taking three out of four points from North Dakota and moving back into the race for home ice a weekend ago, the Golden Gophers took a huge step back last weekend in being swept in a home-and-home series by the St. Cloud State Huskies, and now face an even bigger uphill battle both in their quest for home ice and a NCAA Tournament birth.

Gopher fans had to know the weekend may not play out as they hoped after the first period on Friday night, as the Huskies – who lost six times to the Gophers a season ago – stormed out to a 3-0 lead at the National Hockey Center. The back-breaking goal came with less than ten seconds left, as Minnesota’s David Fischer inexplicably let SCSU’s Garrett Roe get a shot off that beat Gopher goalie Alex Kangas.

The Gophers, to their credit, came back nicely, scoring three second period goals to cut the lead to 4-3 heading into the third period, but as we’ve seen all season, scoring more than 2-3 goals in a game for this version of the Maroon and Gold is a huge challenge, and they were unable to do so on this night.

Saturday’s game may rival the 6-0 loss at Michigan in terms of a season low-point. Coming off a tough loss on Friday and playing at home, fans expected Minnesota to make a stand and stay in the race for home ice in the WCHA playoffs by earning a split with the Huskies. Unfortunately, the Gophers again found themselves down 3-0 to SCSU early in the second period. Minnesota defenseman Cade Fairchild broke up the shutout with his second goal of the season, and SCSU goalie Mike Lee made 42 saves to secure a 4-1 win for the Huskies, who are now 11-1-1 in their last 13 games and are in the mix for the WCHA title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Minnesota now sits alone in seventh place in the WCHA with 16 points after 18 league games. North Dakota is three points ahead having played the same amount of games, while Wisconsin and Colorado College are currently in a tie for fourth place with 23 points. Given Minnesota’s remaining schedule, it’s tough to imagine the team finishing the season strong enough to vault into the upper-half of the WCHA.

Six of the team’s 10 remaining WCHA games come on the road, starting this weekend at Alaska Anchorage. They then have a weekend off before wrapping up the season by traveling to Denver, hosting Colorado College, playing their final series ever at the DECC in Duluth against the Bulldogs, and closing things out against the Badgers.

Minnesota’s best chance to accumulate points comes this weekend against the Seawolves in Anchorage, though if this weekend goes awry, the Seawolves could jump over Minnesota in the WCHA standings. UAA has played two more games, but they trail Minnesota by just one point in the standings.

The Gophers swept the Seawolves in Dinkytown last fall by scores of 5-1 and 4-1, and absolutely need to get four points out of Anchorage this weekend. Things probably won’t be as easy for Minnesota as they were last time around, as the Gophers will now take on UAA without snipers Jay Barriball and Mike Hoeffel in the lineup. Hoeffel is expected to be back for the series against DU in a few weeks, but his bout with mono will hold him out again this weekend.

UAA has played better of late after starting the season 4-9-0. Since then, they are 5-6-1 and have some quality wins this season over North Dakota, Denver, and two against Colorado College. They are essentially a one-line team, with three of their top four scorers all on said line. Senior Kevin Clark leads the team with 12 goals, while junior Tommy Grant is the team leader in assists with 13. Junior Nick Haddad centers the line and has nine points. Senior Josh Lunden would likely be one of those top scorers, but he missed time due to an injury, but he’s now back in the lineup and could be a name you hear or see on the scoresheet this weekend.

Despite their recent uptick in play, UAA is at or near the bottom of the WCHA in most key metrics, including scoring offense (9th), scoring defense (9th), and power play (10th). They also lead the league in penalty minutes.

For the Gophers, the recipe for success is pretty much known at this point because they haven’t won a game all year allowing three goals or more. So, if they can keep the Seawolves to two goals or less, they’ll have a great shot at winning. Conversely, if UAA gets three or more, it’s likely the Gophers will lose.

The Seawolves had scored three or more goals five times in their 20 WCHA games so far, though two of those came against Michigan Tech, who is by far the worst team in the league and maybe the country. So, it’s not going to be easy for UAA to put three by Kangas.

Look for these games to be similar to the ones Minnesota played at Michigan Tech in mid-December. The Gophers won both games 3-2 but both were hard fought and were in doubt late.

In terms of the all-important PairWise Rankings, the Gophers are now on the bubble of falling out of “rankability” again, as they now sit at 12-12-2 on the season, good for 24th in the PairWise. If they fall under .500, they’ll drop out of consideration. To have a solid shot at the NCAA Tournament, they’ll need to finish in the top 12-14.

At this point, it seems like their best shot of making the field of 16 – and playing in front of their home fans at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul due to the fact they are hosting the West Regional – is to make and win the WCHA Final Five. Two seasons ago, they finished in seventh place in the WCHA and made it all the way to the title game before losing to Denver, and last year Minnesota Duluth became the first team in the history of the tournament to win the Final Five after playing in the Thursday night quarterfinal .

So, it’s not impossible, but there is much work to be done between now and then if this Gopher team is going to return to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence a season ago.

Penalties Prove Costly as UMD Scores 3 Power-Play Goals
Provided by the University of Minnesota

The No. 1/2 University of Minnesota women’s hockey team allowed three power play goals as the No. 5 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs earned a 3-0 win and a series sweep, tonight at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center. The Gophers fall to 21-5-4 overall and 17-4-3 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. UMD (21-7-2, 17-5-2 in the WCHA) closed the gap in the WCHA standings to three points. Minnesota has 40 league points, while UMD sits at 37.

UMD jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Emmanuelle Blais used a screen in front of Gopher goalie Jenny Lura at 4:34 in the first on its first power-play attempt. The Bulldogs attempted just 11 shots, eight of which were on goal. Fridfinnson put UMD up, 2-0 when she scored the Bulldogs’ second power-play goal of the game and her third goal of the weekend against the Gophers at 9:16 in the second.

The Gophers and Bulldogs got into multiple scrums in the third period and 15 penalties were called in the third period alone. At 4:41 in the third, three roughing penalties were called on Minnesota’s Emily West and Megan Bozek and another on UMD’s Vanessa Thibault. Minnesota was later called for seven penalties, while UMD was called for five. In the midst of all the penalties, Tara Gray added the Bulldogs’ third and final power-play goal to put the game at the 3-0 final.

UMD finished the game 3-for-8 on the power play, while Minnesota was 0-for-4. Jenny Lura had 23 saves, including 11 in the third. It was Lura's first start this season and her second game played. Jennifer Harss had eight saves in the first, 10 in the second and 13 in the third for 31 saves.

The Gophers will look to get back to their winning ways as they compete in a home-and-home weekend against St. Cloud State next weekend. The Gophers host SCSU at 7:07 p.m. on Friday and travel to St. Cloud, Minn. and play at 2:07 p.m. at the National Hockey Center.

Gophers Fall, 3-1 to No. 5 Minnesota Duluth
Provided by the University of Minnesota

Although the No. 1/2 University of Minnesota women’s hockey team scored first, No. 5 Minnesota Duluth came back and scored three unanswered goals for a 3-1 win, tonight in Duluth, Minn. With the loss, the Gophers drop to 21-4-4 on the season and 17-3-3 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The Bulldogs, who gained two points in the conference standings, improve to 20-7-2 on the season and 16-5-2 in league play.

The Gophers jumped out to an early lead when Laura May scored at 3:47 in the first period. May capitalized on a Chelsey Jones rebound attempt when she backhanded the puck just under the crossbar for her eighth goal of the season. Minnesota peppered UMD goalie Jennifer Harss with 21 shots in the first period, while allowing just six after the first 20 minutes.

UMD tied the game at 12:53 in the second period as Laura Fridfinnson scored on a 2-on-1 attempt. when she paired with Emmanuelle Blais as they streaked down the ice. Fridfinnson took the puck by herself and score her 14th goal of the season. Alyssa Grogan got a piece of the puck, but couldn’t stop the momentum as it crossed the line. The Gophers were outshot 15-7 in that period.

UMD took the lead when Katherine Wilson scored just 43 seconds into the third period. Wilson tapped in a shot as the puck went off the right pipe and sat on the line for her to poke in her 15th goal. Fridfinnson added her second goal of the game and third point when added the insurance goal at 8:06 in the third. The Gophers rattled off 43 shots on goal, including 15 in the third, but couldn’t find the back of the net.

Minnesota attempted a last-minute effort when UMD was called with interference at 19:20. The Gophers pulled starting goalie Alyssa Grogan for a six-on-four attempt, but the Gophers couldn’t score.