The Gopher Hockey team will need to make some adjustments on defense to get a win over conference rival Wisconsin tonight! Some defensive lapses cost them last night and they only came out with a tie. Expect a quick start once the puck is dropped at Mariucci Arena. The Badgers played a good, tough game last night and battled until the final buzzer. Expect the same kind of game tonight in Battle of the Border – Round 2!!!
Line Chart – Minnesota Golden Gophers
Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Kyle Rau-7 – Nick Bjugstad-27 – Christian Isackson-26
Nate Condon-16 – Erik Haula-19 – Zach Budish-24
Jared Larson-23 – Travis Boyd-22 – Seth Ambroz-17
Jake Parenteau-6 – Tom Serratore-14 – Justin Holl-12
Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Brady Skjei-2 – Nate Schmidt-29
Mike Reilly-5 – Mark Alt-20
Seth Helgeson-4 – Ben Marshall-10
Goalie
Adam Wilcox-32
Ryan Coyne-31
Scratches: G-Matt LaPrade-30, D-Blake Thompson-3, F-Ryan Reilly, F-AJ Michaelson, F-Christian Horn-18
Injured: F-Connor Reilly-21, G-Mike Shibrowski-1, F-Sam Warning-11
Line Chart – Wisconsin Badgers
Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Joseph Labate-16 – Jefferson Dahl-14 – Tyler Barnes-7
Morgan Zulinick-15 – Derek Lee-23 – Michael Mersch-25
Ryan Little-20 – Brendan Woods-21 – Keegan Meuer-12
Brad Navin-26 – Matt Paape-8 – Sean Little-18
Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Kevin Schulze-28 – John Ramage-55
Chase Drake-5 – Joe Faust-24
Jake McCabe-19 – Frankie Simonelli-27
Goalie
Joel Rumpel-
Landon Peterson-30
Injured: Mark Zengerle-
Not much for changes to the Gopher Hockey lineup other than Tom Serratore moving to center in between two defenseman playing forward. Good luck scoring when you’re on the ice with 4 DEFENSEman! Haha! Watch him score the game-winner now! The Badgers only change is in net with Joel Rumpel replacing Landon Peterson who did a good job last night stopping 41 of 43 shots on goal.
All comments are from an offensive point of view unless otherwise noted!
Drop the ClutterPUCK!!!
1st Period
- The Gopher hockey team has come out with a ton of energy tonight!
- Joel Rumpel is not controlling his rebounds very well. That could come back to haunt him.
- Gophers are shooting the puck like they did last night (43 shots on goal) and trying to get some rebounds to pounce on!
- PENALTIES – Coincidental Minors at 9:00 of the 1st period – Some after the whistle rough stuff gets one Gopher and one Badger in the box and we will have some 4-on-4 hockey for a couple minutes
- * More room to skate on the big rink!
- BIG HIT! Sean Little on Seth Helgeson at 11:49 of the 1st period – Seth Helgeson gets the puck behind his goal line and Sean Little throws a body check that Seth doesn’t look like he expected or at least expected it to be that rough and Seth hits the boards, loses his balance and then hits the ice.
- SCRUM! – The gophers get a shot on goal that Joel Rumpel saves but leaves a rebound to his right at the left of the goal but the official whistled the play dead thinking the goalie had the puck.
- * Kyle Rau takes the puck in the left of the Badger zone with Nick Bjugstad to his left and Christian Isackson a little behind him and to his right. At the top of the circle, he passes it to Bjugstad and he takes a hard wrist shot that Joel Rumpel saves up high and he thinks he’s trapped the puck in his chest but the puck drops down. The whistle blows but Kyle Rau still tries to play the puck by taking a whack at it which sets off the Badger defenseman Frankie Simonelli & Jake McCabe along with Tyler Barnes. McCabe is trying to grab Rau and Isackson is grabbing McCabe and Jefferson Dahl is grabbing Isackson They all start grabbling pesky Gophers and we almost have a full on brouhaha between Christian Isackson and Jefferson Dahl with Isackson’s helmet coming off.
- * It ends up with Nick Bjugstad and Christian Isackson in the box for the Gophers and Jefferson Dahl and Jake McCabe in the box for the Badgers for 5-on-5 hockey!
- * An active Kyle Rau is a good thing for the Gopher hockey team as they are 6-0 when he scores a point this season!
- * What’s a rivalry without some scrums after the whistle? Boring, that’s what!
- The Big Ten network might have the same problem as FSN with showing the teams get ready for the face-off, then go to a shot of the bench and miss the face-off before the go back to the game! Ughh!!!
- PENALTY – Chase Drake for Interference on Justin Holl at 14:42 of the 1st period – Justin Holl is waiting to get the puck just above the right half-wall in his own zone and before it gets to him, Chase Drake throws a body check on him, knocking him down for a pretty easy call for the official.
- Scoring Chance! – Kyle Rau gets chance at a rebound off the glass behind the goal for an open net but the puck bounces over his stick!
- GOAL! (SHORT-HANDED) – Ryan Little from Keegan Meuer at 16:24 of the 1st period – A shot from the middle of the blue line by Mike Reilly is blocked by Jake McCabe and then swatted at by Frankie Simonelli and Nate Condon and the puck bounces to Keegan Meuer for a 2-on-1 with Ryan Little coming in on Mike Reilly. Meuer is coming in on the right with Little on the left. Meuer handles, pulls the puck back and passes it over to Ryan Little for a quick off-hand one-timer for the goal over Adam Wilcox’ blocker in the upper left of the goal. BADGERS 1-0!!!
- * Mike Reilly never committed to either man. You have to take away the shot or the pass preferably taking away the pass and leaving the shooter for the goalie.
- * Most goalies would rather face the shooter than try to move laterally across the crease for a quick shot one-timer.
- * They won’t know where the one-time shot is going and they don’t have time to prepare for it.
- * At least with the shooter they see the puck and can see the player’s stick which helps them predict where they will shoot.
- * A case of a young defenseman learning on the fly. Believe it or not, this will make Mr. Reilly a better player in the future. Mistakes are opportunities to get better and improve our game.
- Gophers showing good response after giving up the 1st goal and the lead.
2nd Period
- Always interesting to see how the teams adjust out of the intermission.
- PENALTY – John Ramage for Elbowing on Erik Haula at 0:20 of the 2nd period – A pass from Mike Reilly to Erik Haula at the red line for a tip-in dump sees John Ramage come in for a body check on Haula. Ramage jumps into the hit and hits Haula high for an elbowing call.
- * Probably could’ve been called contact to the head too and might’ve been an ejection but the official leaves it as a 2-minute minor.
- * Is that a result of ejections called during last night’s game? and not wanting to eject a Badger player in tonight’s game?
- * Food for thought but probably a good non-ejection on that play even though Ramage jumped into the hit and even if Don Lucia doesn’t agree.
- * Not a good play in the neutral zone to put the Gophers Power Play on the ice.
- PENALTY – Justin Holl for Checking From Behind on John Ramage at 3:01 of the 2nd period – The puck coming around the right corner of the Badger zone to John Ramage waiting for the puck behind the net leaves him open for a body check from Justin Holl. Ramage turns ever so slightly as Holl is coming in for the check and it turns into a checking from behind penalty.
- * Should that be 5 and a game?
- * So hard to judge these plays but it wasn’t too bad so a 2-minute minor should be and was the call on the ice.
- * An announcer that actually says its wrong to embellish to get a penalty in that situation is refreshing.
- * This comes from one announcer asking if John Ramage helped himself by turning on that hit knowing pressure was coming.
- * It’s just not right for players to put themselves in a position that could end up in a serious head injury that could affect their career and their life.
- PENALTY – Nate Schmidt for Tripping on Derek Lee at 4:28 of the 2nd period – Derek Lee is coming out of the right corner of the Gopher zone after winning a battle for the puck. Nate Schmidt is falling down and his stick gets in Derek Lee’s skates tripping him as he goes to the net.
- * The official has to make that call as it took away a scoring chance.
- * Tough play for Nate Schmidt. He didn’t mean to do that.
- * It doesn’t matter that it was an accident. You have to control your stick at all times.
- BIG SAVE! – Adam Wilcox on Michael Mersch at 5:20 of the 2nd period – The Gophers can’t clear the puck and Michael Mersch gets it coming off the right half-wall with only Justin Holl between him and the goal. Justin Holl plays the pass giving Mersch the shot. Mersch snaps a shot to the upper right corner but Adam Wilcox gets his glove on it for a game-changing save!
- * Are we seeing a legend in the making in Adam Wilcox? He’s taking the goalie position and running away with it.
- * I’m not sure if it matters that Mike Shibrowski is hurt and Wilcox is the #1 by default.
- * Competition makes players better so knowing he’s the man in net for the Gophers could have a different effect on him but he’s showing he’s ready to be that guy for the Gophers and answering the questions of what many people thought could be a weakness for the Gophers this season.
- * That’s no slouch shooting the puck either. Michael Mersch knows how to put the puck in the net. He has 6 goals and no assists on the season so far and …
- GOAL! – Nick Bjugstad from Christian Isackson at 7:14 of the 2nd period – The Gophers wrap the puck around the right side to Christian Isackson. He fans on the puck but it gets out of the zone and Jake McCabe stumbles on the point falling down giving Isackson a chance to get past him. McCabe gets in the way of Isackson but Nick Bjugstad sees the loose puck, gets to it and comes in on Frankie Simonelli and goalie Joel Rumpel. Simonelli is defending the 2-on-2 like a 2-on-1 so Bjugstad takes a slap shot that beats Rumpel to his right and goes to the left of the net for a TIE GAME AT 1!!!
- * Did Isackson missing the puck cause McCabe to stumble because he didn’t expect to have a chance to get the puck?
- * Frankie Simonelli could’ve played Bjugstad more straight up on that play as Brendan Woods had Jared Larson covered on the back check.
- * Never let a player shoot if you don’t have to. Get in front of it, deflect it with your stick or block it with your body or at the very least, force the player to alter the shot and move to a worse angle.
- * Especially on a slap shot!
- * You have more time to get in front of a slap shot with the wind up.
- * On second look on a replay, it looks like the shot beat Joel Rumpel under his catcher glove to the right part of the net.
- * That’s how much of a blast it was. I couldn’t tell where it went after looking at it multiple times on a replay. WOW!
- PENALTY – Seth Ambroz for Roughing on Jake McCabe at 16:03 of the 2nd period – Seth Ambroz throws a late body check on Jake McCabe sends him to the sin bin for 2 minutes!
- * Dumb penalty with the puck gone already.
- * Don’t put your team in that position of killing off a penalty because you wanted to get back at an opponent!
3rd Period
- Nice to see some guys shooting backhand shots!
- * Players should shoot the backhand more often but they love going to their forehand even if it means turning to get to their forehand.
- * A backhand shot would be quicker than turning to your forehand and by the time you have turned, the goalie is more ready for the shot than if you’d have shot the backhand!
- * A strong backhand will help your forehand because now you can go either way when coming in on an offensive rush and the defense can’t just defend one side. They have to defend straight up and not lean towards defending to your forehand. The same goes for a goalie.
- GOAL! – Tom Serratore from Erik Haula and Zach Budish at 5:59 of the 3rd period – Zach Budish passes the puck to Erik Haula after blocking a shot from Kevin Schulze. Haula evades a hip check by John Ramage at the blue line and waits for Tom Serratore to come off the bench and gives him a pass as he enters the zone. Serratore has Schulze between him and the goal so he fakes a move to his backhand and quickly pulls the puck back to his forehand and takes a low snap shot that beats Joel Rumpel over his stretched out right pad for a 2-1 GOPHER LEAD!!!
- * Shoot low! Low shots are harder to get to for the goalie especially if they are high enough to get over their stretched out leg pads!
- * The quick shot caught the goalie by surprise too.
- * Could the d-man have played that better?
- * The play happened pretty quick but it was the only play Tom Serratore had and the Schulze should read that and take the shot away.
- * Erik Haula creates the scoring opportunity by avoiding the body check by John Ramage creating time and space to make the right play.
- * PENALTY – Joe Faust for Roughing on Jared Larsen/Seth Ambroz at 7:56 of the 3rd period – Jared Larson was in front of the net and Joe Faush came in and got a shove in with his glove at the head of Larson.
- BIG SAVE! – Adam Wilcox on Sean Little at 9:48 of the 3rd period – A pass from Mike Reilly is just out of the reach of Nate Condon and the Badgers get a 2-on-1 with Sean Little and Keegan Meuer. Little gets the puck off the Gopher turnover and heads up the left side. He comes in on Adam Wilcox and tries to go glove side but Wilcox gets his glove to the puck and makes the save.
- * Ben Marshall played that well by taking away the pass.
- * He also knew he had a couple back checkers that would get to Little.
- * Little was coming from far left so he didn’t have a great angle on Wilcox and the goal.
- PENALTY – Jake McCabe for Kneeing on Brady Skjei at 10:30 of the 3rd period – More like attempted kneeing or….nothing. Brady Skjei is skating the puck around the net (playing forward?) and Jake McCabe sees him coming and tries to make a body check on him that Skjei evades. McCabe may have stuck his knee out a little but that’s a basic reaction when a player tries to dodge the check.
- * Bad call from the official in a 2-1 hockey game!
- * Get out of the game, ref!!!
- SAVE! – Adam Wilcox (or his stick) on Tyler Barnes at 13:51 of the 3rd period – A nice passing play between Derek Lee, Michael Mersch and Tyler Barnes gets Tyler Barnes a point blank shot on Adam Wilcox. Tyler Barnes gets the puck at the left of the zone and dumps it in towards the left corner. Derek Lee skates to it and makes a backhand pass to Michael Mersch in front of the net but the pass is a little behind Mersch so he makes a little backhand pass to Tyler Barnes, who’s following the play and going to the net. Barnes fires a quick shot that goes off of Adam Wilcox’ goalie stick out of play!
- * That’s a great save and a game-saving play too!
- * Does Barnes shoot blocker side because Wilcox has shown how good his glove side is?
- PENALTY – Joseph LaBate for Interference on Erik Haula at 14:23 of the 3rd period – Erik Haula got the puck in the neutral zone and got rid of it. Joseph LaBate throws a late body check on Haula getting an interference penalty in the process. Oops!
- * Obviously a bad penalty in the neutral zone in a 2-1 game.
- PENALTY – Nate Schmidt for Boarding on Brendon Woods at 18:32 of the 3rd period – Nate Schmidt is coming to defend the play behind his goal line and and is hooked up with Joseph LaBate and he runs into Brendon Woods and the official calls boarding.
- * Not sure what the official saw there. Almost as if he’s looking for something to call there.
- PENALTY – Frankie Simonelli for Kneeing on Travis Boyd at 18:47 of the 3rd period – Travis Boyd won the face-off and Wisconsin never got complete control of the puck so a loose puck at the left-half wall gets Boyd to go for it and Frankie Simonelli tries to stop him from getting past him and sticks his knee out to stop him and gets called for kneeing 15 seconds after they went on the power play.
- GOAL! (EMPTY NET) – Kyle Rau from Nick Bjugstad and Seth Helgeson at 19:37 of the 3rd period – Seth Helgeson wins the puck and brings it up the right half-wall then loses it. Nick Bjugstad comes in and just flips it up and over everybody leaving Kyle Rau to skate in on an empty net and seal the victory for the Gopher hockey team!
Good response by Gopher hockey after coming out with a tie last night. Tom Serratore DID score the game-winning goal and the Gopher hockey team is still undefeated when Kyle Rau scores a point! The Gophers make their first trip to play Vermont in school history next weekend on Friday at 6pm and Saturday at 6pm!
Gopher Hockey Recap from GopherSports.com – Gophers Close Out Border Battle with 3-1 Win
Gopher Hockey Box Score from GopherSports.com – Minnesota-Wisconsin Stats
Gopher Hockey Recap from UWBadgers.com – Minnesota Scores Twice in 3rd Period for 3-1 Win
Gophers Drop to 4 but Russo Doesn’t Care – Russo’s Rants – Minneapolis Star Tribune
In other WCHA College Hockey action,
“Home=vs, Away=@”
Michigan Tech won @ Bemidji State 2-1 in OT
Denver won vs Colorado College 6-2
and
North Dakota won vs Minnesota-Duluth 4-3 in OT
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