University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers and Badgers Clash in Key WCHA Series
1/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Amidst a three-way tie for fifth place in the WCHA standings, Minnesota and Wisconsin meet for the first time this season in a two-game series at the Kohl Center in Madison. The neighboring rivals will play four times in the next four weeks and are deadlocked in a battle for home ice in the first round of the league playoffs. Both of this weekend’s games will be televised live on Fox Sports Net North and Saturday’s game can be seen nationally on CSTV. Friday’s game will also be broadcast on WCCO 830 AM and Saturday’s game can be heard on KTNF 950 AM and KUOM 100.7 FM and 106.5 FM.
Series History
Minnesota leads the all-time series 148-78-15 in a rivaly that dates to 1922. The Gophers have won six of the last eight meetings, including four of five games last year. Minnesota is 4-1 in its last five games at the Kohl Center. The Gophers split games in Madison last year, losing 2-1 and winning 1-0. Minnesota beat the Badgers 4-2 in the WCHA Final Five semifinals in March.
About Wisconsin
The Badgers took three points in a series at Alaska Anchorage last weekend to bring a three-game unbeaten streak into the series. Wisconsin beat Denver 7-2 on Jan. 12 and then posted a 2-1 win and 4-4 tie at Alaska Anchorage. Matthew Ford scored with 5:15 left in Friday’s win over the Seawolves and Michael Davies scored with 3:20 left to cap a two-goal third period comeback and force a 4-4 tie on Saturday. Kyle Turris, who was the preseason WCHA rookie of the year, leads Wisconsin in scoring with nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points. Turris ranks fourth in scoring among all rookie players in Division I hockey. Ben Street has a team-high 10 goals with 13 assists for 23 points. Shane Connelly has played all but three games in net and owns a 2.61 goals against average and .908 save percentage.
Last Time Out
The Gophers took three points from Minnesota Duluth last weekend, tying 1-1 on Friday and winning 2-1 on Saturday. After two scoreless periods on Friday, Ben Gordon broke the stalemate for the Gophers with a goal 1:16 into the third period. However, the Bulldogs scored on their first shot of the final period at the 8:44 mark. Neither team had a shot in overtime as the Gophers held a 27-19 edge in shots for the game. Minnesota got goals from Tony Lucia and Mike Carman for a 2-0 lead on Saturday and then held on for the win as Alex Kangas made 25 saves. The Gophers put 38 shots on goal.
Getting Out Front
Minnesota has scored first in 20 of its 26 games this season, including 16 of the past 19 games. The Gophers have allowed one first period goal over their past six games and are outscoring teams 24-13 in the opening stanza. The Gophers have trailed after one period just six times this year and only twice all year has an opponent scored two goals in the first period, coming in a 4-1 loss to Denver and a 5-3 win over Minnesota State. The only goal Minnesota has allowed in the first five minutes of any game occurred when Air Force scored 4:19 into the opening period.
Holding the Lead
With its fast starts, Minnesota has trailed just 280 minutes all season of a total of 1,584 minutes played (17.7 percent of the time). Over the past six games, the Gophers have trailed a total of one minute, 41 seconds. The only deficit came when St. Cloud State broke a 1-1 tie late in the third period for an eventual 3-1 win.
Third Period Perils
While the Gophers have been strong at the start of games, they’ve been outscored 34-18 in the third period, including 24-7 in WCHA games. Oddly, Minnesota has outshot its opponents in third periods with a 271-258 edge in overall games and a 178-145 advantage in WCHA contests. Opposing WCHA goaltenders own a .961 save percentage in the third period, while Minnesota’s goaltenders have a .834 save percentage in the final period of conference games. The Gophers have outscored teams 51-33 in the first two periods.
Sizing It Up
The Gophers will play on a less than Olympic-sized ice sheet this weekend for the second straight week and have enjoyed success on the smaller rinks. Minnesota is 7-8-2 on Olympic-sized ice and 5-2-2 on smaller rinks. The power play has been especially affected. Despite being 0-for-8 on the power play last weekend at Minnesota Duluth, the Gophers are 7-for-40 on the power play (17.5 percent) on small ice and 7-for-73 (9.6 percent) on big ice.
Defensive Duel
Goals have been at a premium in recent Minnesota-Wisconsin clashes. Over the past two years, the 10 meetings have featured a total of 45 goals scored between the two teams, including three shutouts. Last year, just 17 goals were scored in the five meetings. Neither team has scored five goals in a game in the series since Minnesota posted a 5-3 win on Feb. 5, 2005.
Rookie Raves
Minnesota freshman goaltender Alex Kangas was named the WCHA Rookie of the Week for his performance at Minnesota Duluth. His 2.25 goals against average ranks second among all Division I freshman goaltenders behind Colorado College’s Richard Bachman (1.58). Kangas’ .920 save percentage ranks third behind Bachman (.941) and Boston College’s John Muse (.922). Kangas is unbeaten in five road starts this season with a 2-0-3 record. He owns a 2.24 goals against average and .913 save percentage away from home. Kangas has played five straight games and last weekend’s series was the first time he’s started both games in a weekend.
Even Up
Through 26 games, the Gophers have scored the exact same number of goals as their opponents with 69 apiece. In fact, Minnesota and their opponents have also each scored 14 power play goals.
Seeking Six
Neither Minnesota nor its opponents have scored six goals in any game this season. The only seasons in Minnesota’s 86-year history of varsity hockey that the Gophers failed to score six goals in any game was during the 1926-27 and 1924-25 seasons. They played 15 games in 1926-27 and 10 games during 1924-25. Both of those defensive-orientied teams won conference championships. The last season Minnesota didn’t surrender six goals in a game was in 1941-42 when the Gophers only played 12 games. Despite the low scores, the Gophers have not been shutout in 44 straight outings.
Penalty Killing Prowess
Minnesota’s penalty kill has been solid over the past 16 games, holding teams to just five-for-62 (8.1 percent) with the man advantage. Opponents were nine-of-41 (22.0 percent) on the man-advantage in the first 10 games this season. Minnesota is currently ranked 17th nationally on the penalty kill at 86.4 percent for the season.
Ups and Downs
Minnesota’s power play has experienced its share of ups and downs this season. Over the past four games, the Gophers failed to score in 14 attempts. It comes after the Gophers had been 10-for-59 (17.0 percent) over the previous 14 games. That stretch followed an 0-for-30 stretch that spanned seven games. For the season, Minnesota ranks 49th of 59 Division I teams on the power play at 12.4 percent.
