How will the Minnesota Gopher Hockey team respond to their first loss at home this season in the rematch with the Omaha Mavericks? Will there be lineup adjustments on either side?
Line Chart – Minnesota Golden Gophers
Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Kyle Rau-7 – Nick Bjugstad-27 – Nate Condon-16
F-Sam Warning-11 – Erik Haula-19 – Zach Budish-24
AJ Michaelson-15 – Travis Boyd-22 – Seth Ambroz-17
Tom Serratore-14 – Christian Isackson-26 – Justin Holl-12
Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Brady Skjei-2 – Nate Schmidt-29
Jake Parenteau-6 – Ben Marshall-10
Seth Helgeson-4 – Mike Reilly-5
Goalie
Adam Wilcox-32
Ryan Coyne-31
Scratches: G-Matt LaPrade-30, D-Blake Thompson-3, D-Mark Alt-20, F-Ryan Reilly-9, F-Christian Horn-18, F-Jared Larson-23
Injured: F-Connor Reilly-21, G-Mike Shibrowski-1
Line Chart – Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks
Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Matt White-21 – Brock Montpetit-12 – Zahn Raubenheimer-13
Ryan Walters-17 – Domonic Zombo-14 – Josh Archibald-15
Brent Gwidt-25 – Johnnie Searfoss-23 – Andrew Schmit-22
James Polk-9 – Aaron Pearce-27 – Tanner Lane-19
Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Jaycob Megna-8 – Andrej Sustr-3
Tony Turgeon-4 – Bryce Aneloski-24
Michael Young-7 – Brian O’Rourke-28
Goalie
John Faulkner-30
Anthony Stolarz-33
Scratches/Injured: G-Dayn Belfour, D-Brian Cooper-2, Nick Seeler-11, F-Charlie Adams-18, F-Joe Krause-15, F-Alex Simonson-10
A bunch of changes to the Gopher Hockey lineup including line changes, defensive pairings changing and one substitutions. Mark Alt gets his first healthy scratch of the season and his collegiate hockey career (92 games) and hopefully he can gain something from seeing the game from a different point of view. Nate Condon moves up to the first line with Nick Bjugstad and Kyle Rau while Christian Isackson moves down to center the 4th line with Tom Serratore and Justin Holl, who gets back in the lineup and has looked good when he’s gotten playing time. AJ Michaelson moves up to a wing on the third line with Travis Boyd and Seth Ambroz. With Mark Alt scratched, Jake Parenteau moves back to D and is partnered with Ben Marshall. Seth Helgeson now partners with Mike Reilly. Skjei & Schmidt are the only pair that stays the same as last night. Looks like the Don is trying to shake things up and see what happens with some new lines and pairings. That means players have to be more aware of what’s going on since they haven’t played with each other as often. Less comfortable means more attention to your job and better decisions or, at least, that’s the goal!!!
Let’s DROP THE CLUTTERPUCK!!!
1st Period
* Kyle Rau sets up Brady Skjei for a great chance and the shot goes wide.
* Kyle Rau gets the puck in the slot and with some patience, passes up the shot to get the puck to Brady Skjei for a good shot.
* I, for one, would rather see Kyle Rau take the shot he had then get the pass to a defenseman. Kyle Rau is a goal-scorer! We’re not sure what Brady Skjei is yet.
* PENALTY – Andrej Sustr for Slashing on Erik Haula at 1:05 of the 1st period – Nate Schmidt makes a pass from the right point to Erik Haula coming down the left-center to the net but Haula can’t handle it and the puck goes behind the net. As Haula goes to retrieve the puck, Andrej Sustr tries to cross-check him but kind of misses and hits his legs causing Haula to go down to the ice and he ends up getting a slashing penalty for it.
* GOAL! (POWER PLAY) – Erik Haula from Mike Reilly & Kyle Rau at 2:09 of the 1st period – Ben Marshall passes the puck from the right point to Kyle Rau at the right half-wall. Rau takes it to the net but thinks better of it, backs out and passes it to Mike Reilly, who switched with Ben Marshall, at the right point. Marshall made a line change with Erik Haula and now Haula’s at the left point. Reilly skates backwards toward the right half-wall and passes it to Erik Haula at the top of the left circle. Haula takes it towards the net, cuts to the right to his backhand and makes a low backhand shot that goes in the low left corner of the net. John Faulkner was screened and doesn’t appear to have seen the puck at all! GOPHERS 1-0!!!
* That’s a backhand finish AND a Finnish Backhand!
* You don’t ever want to receive a backhand from a Finn!!!
* Great move just to get a shot on net by Haula.
* Great use of the screen from Seth Ambroz taking away the goalie’s eyes!
* Hard to make a save when you can’t see the puck!
* Off a face-off to Adam Wilcox’ right, Sam Warning gets a loose puck at the blue line to get a breakaway and John Faulkner gets the low shot in his glove to make the save!
* PENALTY – Tony Turgeon for Interference on Tom Serratore at 4:58 of the 1st period – Tom Serratore is taken down trying to get position in front of the net by Tony Turgeon. TWOOOO MINUTES!
* Mr. Turgeon seems to enjoy the confines of the penalty box!
* If you’re looking for Turgeon, the first place you should look is the penalty box!
* I wonder if thats where he gets mentally ready for the game?
* The Gophers are pumped up tonight! They have bounce in their step and energy in all aspects of their game, drawing penalties and getting chances at the net.
* Brady Skjei misses a check but gets in the way enough to make it tough to get a good scoring chance.
* Sometimes that’s all you want as a defenseman is to make the ability to score or shoot more difficult or from a bad angle.
* PENALTIES – Seth Helgeson & Tony Turgeon – Both for High-Sticking & Roughing – Tony Turgeon gets his hands high on a hit on Kyle Rau and follows through with his elbow but there’s no call from the officials so Seth Helgeson gets on the ice and takes matters into his own hands (or gloves) and they both end up getting double-minors for high-stickng and roughing!
* PENALTY – AJ Michaelson for Interference on Brock Montpetit at 15:17 of the 1st period – Brock Montpetit is driving the net with AJ Michaelson covering him and AJ gets a little too much of Montpetit pushing him into the net.
* PENALTY – Gopher Bench for Too Many Men On the Ice at 17:02 of the 1st period – OOPS! Sometimes its hard to keep track of those quick, little Gophers on the ice but not this time. That’s one too many Gophs on the frozen water!!!
* PENALTY – Johnnie Searfoss for Tripping on Nick Bjugstad at 19:00 of the 1st period – Johnnie Searfoss (or Seafrost if you’re GORG!) gets his stick in the feet of Nick Bjugstad tripping him up in the neutral zone and its to the box of shame for the Frost of the Sea!
* Gorg having some trouble reading the lineups apparently! Oops!
* Good period for the Gophers from an energy standpoint but too many penalties!
* Good period for the Mavericks since they are only down by one goal and knew the Gophers would come out on fire to begin the game.
* Too many penalties too!
2nd Period
* GOAL! (POWER PLAY) – Nick Bjugstad from Nate Schmidt & Erik Haula at :58 of the 2nd period – Erik Haula gets the puck off an unsuccessful pass by Zach Budish to Kyle Rau on the back door and makes a backhand pass to Nate Schmidt at the center of the blue line. Schmidt passes it to Nick Bjugstad at the left of the net. Bjugstad receives the pass, takes a look and shoots it into the right corner of the net! GOPHERS 2-0!!!
* GOAL! – Tom Serratore from Nate Condon & Christian Isackson at 2:22 of the 2nd period – A forecheck forces some quick passes and some good bounces. A pass goes off Christian Isackson’s skate and deflects to Nate Condon in the slot. Condon sees Tom Serratore going to the net from the right corner and lays a backhand pass to him so he can skate into it and shoot the puck in the left of the net past John Faulkner! GOPHERS 3-0!!!
* PENALTY – Andrej Sustr for Interference on Tom Serratore at 4:25 of the 2nd period – Tom Serratore is driving to the net and Andrej Sustr takes him down when he never had the puck.
* PENALTY – Brady Skjei for Tripping on Alex Simonson at 8:37 of the 2nd period – Brady Skjei being aggressive at the offensive blue line gets his stick in the feet of Alex Simonson and takes him down! TWOOO MINUTES!!!
* PENALTY – Zahn Raubenheimer for Checking From Behind on Nick Bjugstad at 9:14 of the 2nd period – 5:00 Major & a Game! – Nick Bjugstad is going to get the puck in the right corner and Zahn Raubenheimer throws a body check hitting Bjugstad from behind. Bjugstad never turned and Rauberheimer saw his numbers the whole way so it should’ve been an easy hit to avoid and it was quickly turned into five and a game misconduct!
* PENALTY – Kyle Rau for Interference on Johnnie Searfoss at 11:32 of the 2nd period – A loose puck comes out from a battle in front of the Mavericks net and they get a break. Kyle Rau starts back checking and is a little behind Johnnie Searfoss so he taps him with his stick a little bit and Searfoss goes down way too easily and the official falls for it and Kyle Rau will spend two minutes in the box!
* Gorg calls it a well-timed dive because the Gophers are on a 5-minute power play and that diving is part of the game.
* Find a way to get diving out of the game! It’s a dumb play!
* If Searfoss battles to get into the rush on the break, maybe he gets a chance to score that the Mavericks probably won’t get in a 4-on-4 situation!
* How does the thought of diving even enter your mind? “Hey…I could just fall down here and we’d draw a penalty!”
* The thought should be, “Hey, if I battle through this hacking, I might get a chance to score and make a big play for my team!”
* ALSO, now the NCAA has a rule where you still get a power play if you score on a delayed penalty so that’s even more of a reason to battle to get a scoring chance because the official might make the call anyways!
* GOAL – Andrej Sustr from Matt White & Ryan Walters at 17:48 of the 2nd period – Matt White gets the puck from Ryan Walters at the right of the Gopher blue line and he cuts toward the center of the zone and makes a back pass to Andrej Sustr (Shooster) as Sustr goes up the right boards. Sustr tees up a slapper and scores just over Adam Wilcox’ glove to the upper right corner!
* That seemed to fool Adam Wilcox by the way he reacted to the shot. MAVERICKS 1-3!!!
* That goal has definitely given the Mavericks some momentum as they’ve gotten a few good chances since then!
* Jake Parenteau is pushed into the boards as he’s falling down and he hits the boards pretty hard. He looks like he’s ok!
3rd Period
* Northern Collegiate Hockey Association? Doug McLeod keeps saying the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association. Is that different than the National Collegiate Hockey Conference? or is he saying it wrong?
* The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association is a Division III hockey-only conference that consists of teams in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
* Mr. McLeod is losing his mind while I type, people! What is he talking about?
* PENALTIES – James Polk Andrej Sustr, Jaycob Megna, Tom Serratore & Seth Ambroz at 6:54 of the 3rd period – WOW! A possible checking from behind/boarding on James Polk off a body check on Justin Holl. Then Tom Serratore throws a body check after the whistle and a scrum ensues!
* Tom Serratore – Hit After the Whistle – 2:00
* Andrej Sustr – Roughing – 2:00
* Jaycob Megna – Boarding – 2:00
* “Liquid Hot Megna!”
* Seth Ambroz – Roughing – 2:00
* PENALTY – Nick Bjugstad for Tripping on Josh Archibald at 13:41 of the 3rd period – Travis Boyd tries to start a breakout off a loose puck in front of the Gopher net by making a little backhand pass to Nick Bjugstad but he doesn’t see Josh Archibald coming to the same spot from the other side and Bjugstad ends up tripping Archibald accidentally but will get to watch from the penalty box for a couple minutes.
* PENALTY – Jaycob Megna for Hooking on Kyle Rau at 15:05 of the 3rd period – Dean Blais pulls his goalie around the 5-minute mark but a turnover goes to Kyle Rau and he’s hauled down by Jaycob Megna for a 2-minute minor!
* Liquid Hot Magma is now Jaycob “Hook” Megna! HA!
* GOAL! (EXTRA MAN-6-on-5) – Johnnie Searfoss from Matt White & Ryan Walters at 17:58 of the 3rd period – Bang Bang play from behind the net to the front in quick fashion makes it a one-goal game with 2 minutes left!
FINAL SCORE – Minnesota 3, Omaha 2
The Gophers travel to Colorado to play Colorado College next Friday & Saturday night! Both games will be televised – Friday’s game is on FSN+ at 8:30pm and Saturday night’s game will be on FSN at 8pm!
Also, Notre Dame and Minnesota Wild 2nd round pick Mario Lucia will be on NBCSports Network at 6pm on Friday night in there weekly Friday Night Ice game against Michigan State so tune in and have a great Friday night of hockey!
Gopher Hockey Recap from GopherSports.com – Minnesota Tops Omaha 3-2 in Series Finale
Gopher Hockey Box Score from GopherSports.com – Minnesota-Omaha Stats
Gopher Hockey Recap from OMavs.com – Mavs Comeback at Minnesota Falls Short
In other WCHA College Hockey action tonight,
Home=”vs”, Away=”@”
North Dakota won @ Colorado College 3-2 in OT
Wisconsin won @ Denver 3-1
Minnesota State won vs Bemidji State 6-1
Minnesota-Duluth tied @ Michigan Tech 4-4 in OT
and
Alaska-Anchorage won vs St. Cloud State 3-1
In other College Hockey action,
Home=”vs”, Away=”@”
Notre Dame won vs Lake Superior State 6-1 – Mario Lucia scored 2 goals so he now has 4 goals & 1 assist in 6 games played!
Mario Lucia was also named to the preliminary roster for USA Hockey and the 2013 World Junior Championships! Three Gopher Hockey players were also named to the roster, Mike Reilly, Brady Skjei and Travis Boyd!
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You’ve Been ClutterPUCKED!!!
