University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Travel to Denver For Two-Game Series
2/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Minnesota hits the road for a two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association series at Denver. Both teams have struggled in recent weeks as Minnesota is 1-3-3 over its last seven games and Denver is 1-4 in its last five outings. The Gophers remain in a tight race in the middle of the league standings as five points separate fourth through ninth place. Friday’s game can be seen live on the Big Ten Network, while Fox Sports Net North will televise Saturday’s game live. Both games can be heard on WCCO 830 AM.
Series History
Minnesota leads the all-time series 90-61-11 in a series dating to 1951. The Pioneers swept the first two meetings between the teams 5-1 and 4-1 on Nov. 2 and 4, marking their first sweep at Mariucci Arena since Dec. 10-11, 1994. This weekend’s games mark the first time in the past 23 meetings that both teams have not been among the top 15 teams in the national rankings. The Gophers did not play at Denver last season and are making their first trip to Magness Arena since Nov. 18-19, 2005.
About the Pioneers
Denver had been rolling along with a seven-game winning streak in mid-January, however, the Pioneers have hit a rough stretch with losses in four of their last five games. Denver’s stretch of defeats began after beating Wisconsin 3-2 in a controversial game where the WCHA admitted an officiating mistake. The Pioneers, who were swept by Minnesota State 5-1 and 3-2 last weekend, have allowed 22 goals over their past five games (4.40 per game) after surrendering just 37 goals in their first 21 games (1.76 per game). Brock Trotter is the team’s leading scorer with 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points. Freshman Tyler Bozak has 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points and collected a hat trick with two shorthanded goals in the 4-1 win over Minnesota on Nov. 4. Senior Peter Mannino has started all but one game in goal this season and owns a 2.25 goals against average with a .916 save percentage.
Last Time Out
Minnesota played a pair of overtime goals with North Dakota last weekend, losing 2-1 on Friday and tying 1-1 on Saturday. North Dakota’s Evan Trupp scored a spectacular diving goal by swatting at the puck in mid-air to score the game-winner on Friday. Evan Kaufmann scored shorthanded 3:16 into the game for the Gophers and North Dakota tied it less than five minutes later. Alex Kangas had 32 saves for Minnesota. On Saturday, Ben Gordon gave the Gophers a 1-0 lead with 12:43 left, but North Dakota rallied to tie the game less than four minutes later. Minnesota held a 30-28 advantage in shots as Kangas made 27 saves.
Getting Ahead
Despite its .500 record, Minnesota has rarely been behind in any of its games. The Gophers have scored first in 23 of their 30 contests and trailed for just 327 of a possible 1,836 minutes (17.8 percent of the time). Minnesota never trailed in any of its three overtime losses or five of its ties. The only wins that Minnesota trailed at any point of the game were against Rensselaer and at home against Minnesota State.
Saving the Day
Kangas has been outstanding in recent weeks since landing the regular starting goaltending job. Since the holiday break, Kangas has made nine starts and owns a 1.71 goals against average and .934 save percentage, though he only has a 2-3-4 record. For the season, Kangas ranks 15th nationally with a 2.16 goals against average and 14th with a .923 save percentage. Both of those numbers rank second among all freshman goaltenders behind Colorado College’s Richard Bachman. Eight of Kangas’ 16 games played have gone to overtime and he has posted a .900 or better save percentage in 12 of his 15 starts. Of the 37 goals he has allowed, 22 have come in the third period or overtime.
Defensive Shutdown
Minnesota has allowed just 10 goals in its last six games, but only has one victory over the span. During the stretch, the Gophers have given up just 34 first period shots for an average of 5.7 per game. North Dakota had only two shots in Friday’s first period and four shots in Saturday’s opening stanza.
Scoring Struggles
The Gophers have scored a total of eight goals over their past six games despite putting 172 shots on goal for an average of 28.7 shots per game. Opposing goaltenders have compiled a .953 save percentage over the span. Minnesota has not had a six-game span with just eight goals since Jan. 6-27, 1956. The Gophers have not been shutout this season despite being held to one goal in 10 different games.
Shorthanded Success
Evan Kaufmann’s shorthanded goal on Friday against North Dakota marked Minnesota’s fourth in a nine-game span. With Friday’s goal, the Gophers scored shorthanded in four consecutive home games, also doing so in both games against Wayne State and against St. Cloud State. Over the 12 games since the holiday break, Minnesota has scored as many shorthanded goals as it has allowed on its opponents’ power plays with four each.
First Period Fortunes
Minnesota’s strong starts have been fueled by solid first period play as the Gophers have outscored opponents 27-15 and outshot foes 311-215 in the opening period. Minnesota’s opponents have scored just three first period goals in the past 10 games and only twice this season 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 Gophers have not allowed a goal in the first four minutes of any game. In conference play, Minnesota has outscored teams 18-12 and held a 207-136 advantage in shots.
Third Period Troubles
The third period has provided tough times for the Gophers, who have been outscored 37-19, including 27-8 in conference play. Oddly, the Gophers have outshot their conference foes 205-191 in the final period as opposing WCHA goaltenders own a .961 save percentage in the third period. Minnesota has been outscored 18-4 in the third period of its 12 away games. The Gophers have also been outscored 3-0 in overtime periods.
Spreading Them Out
Gophers’ forward Blake Wheeler assisted Ben Gordon’s goal on Saturday against North Dakota and has now scored his 26 points in 21 different games. Wheeler’s 13 goals this season have been scored in 13 different games. He has five multiple-point games this year, but does not have any three-point games. He also has not scored a game-winning goal, but has notched the game’s first goal five times.
Extra, Extra
The Gophers have gone to overtime in three straight games and five of their last seven contests. It is the fourth time Minnesota has played three straight overtime games, having also done so last season. The only time the Gophers ever played four in a row was Oct. 31-Nov. 13, 1992. Minnesota also had an overtime game the following week that year for the only other time it played five overtime games in a seven-game span. Denver is one of two Division I teams that has not played an overtime game this season with Princeton being the other.
Penalty Killing Prowess
Minnesota held North Dakota without a power play goal in 12 opportunities last weekend as the Gophers’ penalty kill has now held opponents to six-for-81 (7.4 percent) on the man advantage over the past 20 games. Opponents were nine-of-41 (22.0 percent) on the power play in the first 10 games this season. Minnesota is currently ranked 12th nationally on the penalty kill at 87.7 percent for the season. Only twice this season has an opponent scored more than one power play goal in a game and the Gophers have not allowed a goal on a five-on-three power play.
