University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Skate to Another Tie in Opener at Denver
2/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Becoming almost a weekly ritual for the Minnesota men’s hockey team, the Gophers played to another tie on Friday night with a 1-1 draw in the opening game of their series at Denver.
For Minnesota, it was the Gophers’ fourth straight overtime game and sixth in their last eight games. It is the fifth consecutive weekend Minnesota has played a tie as the Gophers are now 12-12-7 overall and 6-10-5 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Denver was one of only two teams in Division I hockey that had not played an overtime game this season, along with Princeton, and is now 18-8-1 overall and 12-6-1 in the league.
The game continued Minnesota’s trend of low-scoring games as the Gophers have now scored a total of nine goals in their last seven games, while only allowing 11 over the span. Freshman goaltender Alex Kangas has played in goal for all of those games, but sports only a 1-2-4 record over the span. The Gophers are 0-3-7 in their 10 overtime contests. It marks only the second time in school history Minnesota has played four straight overtime games. The other was Oct. 31-Nov. 13, 1992.
Denver scored the game’s first goal at 11:04 of the second period as Minnesota turned a puck over at the blue line to Tyler Bozek, who had a hat trick in the Pioneers’ win over Minnesota earlier this year. Bozek raced to the other end and beat Kangas between the pads for a shorthanded goal.
The score came shortly after Kangas stopped Denver’s Tom May on a breakaway and just 11 seconds into Minnesota’s first power play chance of the period. It marked just the eighth time in 31 games that the Gophers have failed to score first. The two breakaways were among the only scoring chances of the period as the Pioneers held a 7-5 edge in shots.
R.J. Anderson tied the game for the Gophers with 11:01 left in the third period, firing a long shot from the blue line that found its way through traffic and into the net for his fifth goal of the year. Anderson’s defensive partner, Kevin Wehrs, assisted the goal that was counted after a lengthy video review.
Minnesota played a solid third period by outshooting the Pioneers 15-6 and creating several quality scoring chances. The Pioneers outshot the Gophers 4-3 in overtime.
The first period featured no scoring, but five power plays. Denver had the first three man-advantage chances and also had a one-minute power play to open the second period. Minnesota outshot the Pioneers 12-9 in the opening period, shutting out its opponent in the first period for the eighth time in the past 11 games.
Minnesota finished with a 35-26 edge in shots for the game. Denver failed to score on five power play chances, including one with 6:10 remaining in the game. Minnesota had four power play opportunities.
The teams play again Saturday at 8:07 p.m. central time.
