Gopher hockey enters the last weekend of the regular season with a chance to win the McNaughton Cup and finish the season on top of their last season in the WCHA Conference. Bemidji State has had a rough season with only 6 victories (5 in the WCHA.) Going into overtime in 11 games, losing 3 and tying 8, its probably safe to say they are sick of free hockey! With only 67 goals scored (49 in WCHA play) through 32 games and their top scorer only having 21 points, obviously they are having trouble on offense. They can’t change the past so I’m sure they will come out tonight with a ton of energy and try to play spoiler!
Line Chart – Minnesota Golden Gophers
Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Kyle Rau-7 – Nick Bjugstad-27 – Christian Isackson-26
F-Sam Warning-11 – Erik Haula-19 – Zach Budish-24
Nate Condon-16 – Travis Boyd-22 – Seth Ambroz-17
Tom Serratore-14 – AJ Michaelson-15 – Justin Holl-12
Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Brady Skjei-2 – Nate Schmidt-29
Seth Helgeson-4 – Ben Marshall-10
Mike Reilly-5 – Mark Alt-20
Goalie
Mike Shibrowski-1
Scratches: G-Matt LaPrade-30, D-Jake Parenteau-6, F-Ryan Reilly-9, F-Christian Horn-18, F-Jared Larson-23
Injured: F-Connor Reilly-21, G-Ryan Coyne-31
Line Chart – Bemidji State Beavers
Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Jordan George-28 – Aaron McLeod-14 – Ben Kinne-9
Brance Orban-7 – Jeff Jubinville-12 – Phil Brewer-29
Radoslav Illo-18 – Cory Ward-13 – Danny Mattson-16
Markus Gerbrandt-23 – Mitch Cain-27 – Brad Robbins-17
Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Jake Areshenko-8 – Brady Wacker-25
Matt Prapavessis-22 – Graeme McCormack-11
Sam Rendle-20 – Sam Windle-15
Goalie
Andrew Walsh-30
Mathieu Dugas-35
Scratches/Injured: G-Reid Mimmack-1, D-James Hansen-3, D-Matt Carlson-5, D-Kyle Brodie-26, F-David Boehm-4, F-Tyler Tosunian-19, F-Matt Hartmann-21
Christian Isackson on the top line again! That moves Nate Condon to wing on the 3rd line and AJ Michaelson back to center on the 4th line.
Let’s DROP THE CLUTTERPUCK!!!
1st Period
- Gophers vs Beavers! Maybe they should use a wooden puck for this game!!!
- Holy Crap! FSN actually put up the line charts for both teams before the opening face-off!
- The Battle of Serratore – Part II – Uncle Tom vs Gopher Tom!!! This time…IT’S PERSONAL!!!
- Bemidji State with a lot of jump to start the game! Not surprising playing the #2 team in the nation and an in-state rival AND in front of their fans!
- They’re going to need to keep that energy going all game long to get the W!
- GOAL! Ben Marshall from Nate Condon & Seth Helgeson at 5:08 of the 1st period – Ben Marshall pinches on a loose puck at the right half-wall taking a shot that gets deflected into and around the left corner. Seth Helgeson gets to it first and dumps it back around the left corner to Nate Condon who skates to the left half-wall and makes a backhand pass to Ben Marshall at the top of the left face-off dot and he quickly catches and shoots a low shot that appears to hit Andrew Walsh’s goalie stick and gets through the five-hole and its GOPHERS 1-0!!!
- Forward Markus Gerbrandt & Defenseman Brady Wacker were alone in front of the net while the players they should be covering were able to get free.
- Wacker’s man is probably Nate Condon and Gerbrandt is covering Ben Marshall but Gerbrandt is way too low to make a play on Marshall especially if Wacker is already in front of the net.
- You have to read the play! Reacting to what you see if usually too late!
- I’m sure the mobility and offensive skill of the Gopher defense was covered in the Bemidji State game plan but it wasn’t there on that play.
- GOAL! – Matt Prapavessis from Ben Kinne & Jake Areshenko at 9:22 of the 1st period – A soft pass by Mark Alt from behind the net forces Mike Reilly to wait for the puck in the right corner with his back turned to the play and allows the forecheck to create a turnover below the goal line. Reilly’s pass attempt is deflected back towards the net and he has to haul down Jordan George (Delayed Penalty). Ben Kinne gets the loose puck in the left corner, turns toward the left boards and wraps the puck back around the left corner to George. He skates towards the left corner and passes to Kinne, who has cut to the net, then makes a pass back to Jake Areshenko for a slap shot that hits Mike Reilly in the leg and bounces to Matt Prapavessis for a backhand shot into the net! Adam Wilcox never had a chance to save that and we are TIED AT 1!!!
- Sometimes you need the Prapavessis to score a goal!
- Proper Vessis! What is the proper vessis? Maybe that’s why its been so hard for the Beavers to score goals this season!
- PENALTY! – Mike Reilly for Hooking on Jordan George at 9:22 of the 1st period – Gotta love the rule where a team still gets a power play on a delayed penalty! Doesn’t that seem to defeat the purpose of a delayed penalty! You gain the advantage on a delayed penalty by being able to get the “extra guy” on the ice and the whistle being blown if the opponent touches the puck.
- I’d love to hear the explanation of this rule now and when it was being discussed about becoming a rule.
- PENALTY! – Sam Rendle for Tripping on Travis Boyd at 12:16 of the 1st period – Sam Rendle is defending Travis Boyd in the right corner and gets his stick between Boyd’s legs tripping him up and getting a reservation for a 2-minute stay in the Sin Bin!
- “Welcome to the Sin Bin! Is there anything you’d like to confess? What are you GUILTY OF?”
- Be careful where you put your stick! Between the legs is not a good place for it! Careful with those phrase, boys and girls!
- WTF Thought! – FSN shows across the top of the screen that they are showing the Minnesota Twins Spring Training game on their sister station FSN+!
- I’m always amazed when a program I’m watching will tell me about another program on another channel. What kind of sense does that make?
- “Hey, thanks for coming! If you didn’t know, you could go here and you might have more fun! Just saying’!”
- I realize they are promoting their baseball coverage but why would you want a viewer to go to a different channel if they are watching the one YOU ARE BROADCASTING ALREADY?
- That’s like going out on a date and having your date point out other people to you.
- “Hey, did you see her? She’s good-looking!”
- PENALTY! Danny Mattson for Hooking on Travis Boyd at 20:00 of the 1st period – At the end of the period, the Gophers softly dump the puck around the left corner and goalie Andrew Walsh goes behind his net to get it and sends it around the right corner. Seth Ambroz gets to it and takes a quick shot trying to score on the open net. Walsh gets back to make the save and the rebound goes out of the zone. Travis Boyd was going to the net as Ambroz shot the puck and he was hooked by Danny Mattson so the official punched his ticket to the Bin of Sin! There will be a Gopher power play to start the 2nd period!
2nd Period
- Always nice to start a period on the power play as you get the fresh ice to work with!
- PENALTY – Aaron McLeod for High-Sticking on Erik Haula at 0:28 of the 2nd period – Jake Areshenko attempts to clear the zone around the right boards from the left corner and the puck is deflected up and towards the right half-wall. Erik Haula is coming in from the point to get it and Aaron McLeod, trying to play the puck with his stick, ends up hitting Haula instead.
- 5-on-3 for a minute and 32 seconds!
- GOAL! (POWER PLAY) – Nick Bjugstad from Erik Haula & Christian Isackson at 2:21 of the 2nd period – With not much working on the 5-on-3 except the penalty kill, Christian Isackson, at the right half-wall, passes the puck to Erik Haula at the right point. Haula skates to the middle of the blue line and passes it to Nick Bjugstad at the left face-off dot. Bjugstad catches the pass, takes a stride towards the middle and shoots all in one motion and beats Andrew Walsh with a shot that goes upper right! GOPHERS 2-1!!!
- I’m not sure Nick Bjugstad even looked before he shot the puck he shot it so quick.
- He had a defender in front of him that might’ve hindered Andrew Walsh from seeing the shot.
- Bemidji State is doing a great job of keeping this game close giving them a chance to steal a victory!
- Nate Schmidt just made great play in his defensive zone by looking for a player to cover instead of watching the puck.
- He quickly took a look and went to cover the man while staying aware of where the puck was. Scouts will notice that!
- GREAT SAVE! – Andrew Walsh on Nick Bjugstad at 15:51 of the 2nd period – Mike Reilly brings the puck up on a 2-on-2 with Kyle Rau to his left and as he gets across the blue line, he sees Nick Bjugstad joining the rush on the left side and makes a pass to him that Bjugstad one-times and Andrew Walsh saves it with his blocker!
- That shot was low but high enough to get over the goalie’s leg pad so Walsh had the presence of mind to get his blocker in the right spot to make the save keeping the game at a 1-goal deficit!
- GOAL! Cory Ward from Brady Wacker & Danny Mattson at 18:17 of the 2nd period – A low slap shot from Brady Wacker is saved by Adam Wilcox but he has to stretch out his right leg to make the save leaving a rebound available for Cory Ward. Ben Marshall is trying to keep Ward from getting to the puck by hooking him but he’s able to battle through it and get the puck to go in the net. TIED AT 2!!!
- It ends up going off his shin pad so the goal is under review to see if the puck was kicked in.
- Nate Schmidt takes a slap shot from Radislav Illo right to the midsection and he goes down right away! He gets up but he’s in some pain! WOW!
- Justin Holl gets a shift on D because of Marshall being in the Bin of Sin and Schmidt being in pain!
- PENALTY – Ben Marshall for Hooking on at 18:17 of the 2nd period –
- Twice in one game a team gets a penalty at the same time as a goal is scored! Hard to believe that’s happened before.
- So if they score on the delayed penalty and the penalty was taken on the player who scored the goal, should that be a penalty? NO! DUMB!
3rd Period
- GOAL! – Cory Ward from Radoslav Illo at 2:30 of the 3rd period – A 3-on-2 develops with Radoslav Illo coming up the left side with Cory Ward in the middle and ? on the right. Zach Budish had Ward covered in the neutral zone but lets him go for some reason. Nate Schmidt played Illo and Brady Skjei was playing the player on the right so he was late getting to Ward when he got the puck allowing Ward a pretty clear shot on Adam Wilcox and he beat him just over his glove going upper right and its BEAVERS 3-2!!!
- Brady Skjei played that pretty good because Zach Budish should’ve kept back checking instead of letting Ward go.
- Make it a 3-on-3 instead of a 3-on-2!
- GREAT SAVE! – Adam Wilcox on Jordan George at 4:30 of the 3rd period – After a Kyle Rau dump on goal, Andrew Walsh throws the puck behind his net to Matt Prapavessis and he makes a pass to the far blue line to a breaking Jordan George for a breakaway. He makes a couple moves and finally goes to his backhand but Adam Wilcox gives him nothing to shoot at and makes the save and keeps the deficit at one goal!
- GOAL! – Justin Holl from AJ Michaelson at 7:27 of the 3rd period – A Brady Skjei dump in around the left corner lets AJ Michaelson get on his horse on the forecheck. He gets to the defenseman, lifts his stick, takes the puck around the right corner and sees Justin Holl coming down the center of the zone. The right-handed shooting Holl gets the pass on his forehand but its somewhat behind him so he has to turn to skate backwards and ends up just turning around and shooting it from his backhand and puts it through the five-hole of Andrew Walsh so the game is TIED AT 3!!!
- Michaelson made the pass where he had to but Justin Holl getting the pass and kind of turning/spinning to receive it and get the shot made the play!
- I see so many players turning from their backhand to their forehands to shoot but you don’t see many players turn from their forehand to their backhand.
- That probably surprised Andrew Walsh a little bit.
- UNLEASH THE BACKHAND!!!
- Travis Boyd falls or is taken down in the right corner and you over hear someone in the crowd say, “He Tackled Him!”
- An Icing is called and Kyle Rau clearly would’ve gotten to the puck first! Silly Linesman! You’ll never get your Orange Bars!
- PENALTY – Sam Rendle for Tripping on at 14:23 of the 3rd period – Sam Warning is heading into the right side of the Beaver Zone with speed and Sam Rendle takes a couple whacks at him. One of the whack attempts hits the right toe of Warning’s skate and he goes down!
- Big opportunity for the Gopher Power Play here!
- GOAL! (POWER PLAY) – Nick Bjugstad from Nate Schmidt & Kyle Rau at 14:54 of the 3rd period – Nick Bjugstad, Nate Schmidt and Erik Haula pass between each other and move around with Schmidt at the middle of the point, Haula at the right circle and Bjugstad at the left circle. Haula and Schmidt switch and Haula sends a pass to Schmidt for a one-timer from the right circle that is saved and rebounds to the back wall. Kyle Rau is there and quickly passes it to Schmidt and he passes across the zone to Bjugstad at the left face-off dot. Bjugstad catches the pass, corrals the puck and takes a slap shot that goes upper right over the glove of Andrew Walsh. GOPHERS 4-3!!!
- Nick Bjugstad went with a half backswing on the slapper to get the shot off quicker! The kid can just bring it with every shot!
- It helps that his uncle played in the NHL and has a shooting school I’m sure!
- Another 2-goal game for Nick Bjugstad!
FINAL SCORE
Minnesota Gophers 4, Bemidji State Beavers 3
The Gopher hockey team battled through another tough fight from an in-state opponent to get the W! They need to be ready for another battle tomorrow night as they play their last regular season game in the WCHA! That game will air on FSN+ at 7pm! We’ll see you then!
Gopher Hockey Recap from GopherSports.com – Minnes
Gopher Hockey Box Score from GopherSports.com – Minnes
Gopher Hockey Recap from .com – BSUBeavers.com – Bjugstad scores twice on the power play to lift Minnesota over BSU, 4-3
In other WCHA College Hockey action tonight,
Home=”vs”, Away=”@”
Denver won vs Alaska-Anchorage 7-1,
North Dakota won @ Minnesota State 4-3,
Michigan Tech won vs Colorado College 2-0,
Minnesota-Duluth won vs Nebraska-Omaha 5-4
and
St. Cloud State won @ Wisconsin 4-2
In other College Hockey action,
Home=”vs”, Away=”@”
Michigan State won @ Alaska 2-1 – 2012 Minnesota Wild round 3rd-round pick John Draeger had the 2nd assist on Michigan State’s 1st goal – He now has 1 goal & 8 assists in 37 games played as a freshman for the Spartans
