University of Minnesota Athletics
Home Playoff Spot at Stake at Michigan Tech
3/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Minnesota vs. Michigan Tech
Fri.-Sat., March 6-7, 6 p.m. (Central Time)
MacInnes Ice Arena Houghton, Mich.
Home ice advantage in the upcoming WCHA playoffs is at stake for the Gophers this weekend as they conclude the season at Michigan Tech. Minnesota enters the weekend in a three-way tie for the fifth place and can earn a first-round home series by sweeping the Huskies. The Gophers are making their first trip to Michigan Tech since Dec. 8-9, 2006.
Last Time Out
Minnesota earned three points against Minnesota Duluth with a 2-2 tie on Friday and a 5-3 win on Saturday. Patrick White and Jordan Schroeder each scored goals on Friday as Minnesota rallied from a pair of one-goal deficits. Kent Patterson made 34 saves in goal in his first career start. The Gophers trailed 3-2 in the third period on Saturday before Tony Lucia tied the game with 10:54 left and Nico Sacchetti tallied the game-winner with 7:11 remaining.
Series History
Minnesota leads the all-time series 164-75-15 and is 8-2-2 in the last 12 meetings. The past six matchups have been played at Mariucci Arena as the Gophers haven’t traveled to Houghton since Dec. 8-9, 2006. The Gophers are 9-0-3 in their last 12 games at Michigan Tech with the last loss coming on Jan. 31, 1998. In fact, Don Lucia is 17-2-6 all-time at MacInnes Arena with his only two losses coming on Nov. 9-10, 1990 as the head coach at Alaska-Fairbanks.
About the Huskies
Michigan Tech has been battered by injuries this year and brings a 5-22-7 overall record and 1-18-7 league mark into this weekend’s series. The Huskies have played several games with a short lineup and have only 13 players that have seen action in at least 25 of the team’s 34 games. They are already locked into the No. 10 seed for the upcoming league playoffs. Michigan Tech is 0-7-5 since the start of the New Year with the last win being a 2-1 win over North Dakota in the consolation game of the Great Lakes Invitational. Despite their record, the Huskies have only been swept once in their last nine weekends. They had last weekend off and, most recently, tied Minnesota Duluth 2-2. Of their seven ties, the Huskies have rallied to score the game-tying goal six times. The Huskies rank last nationally in scoring with 52 goals in 34 games for an average of 1.53 goals per game. Freshman Brett Olson leads the team with 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points. Rob Nolan is the top goaltender with a 3.00 goals against average and .896 save percentage.
Home for the Playoffs
The Gophers have their sights on a first-round home series in the WCHA playoffs and would earn home ice with a sweep this weekend. The top five teams open the playoffs at home and Minnesota enters the weekend in a three-way tie for fifth place with St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth. The Gophers hold tiebreakers with both teams and simply need to match the number of points the Huskies and Bulldogs each earn in their respective series. St. Cloud State plays a home-and-home series with Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth hosts Alaska Anchorage.
Playoff Possibilities
Minnesota could finish anywhere from third to seventh place in the WCHA standings entering the final weekend of league play. With a sweep, the Gophers would move up to third if North Dakota sweeps Wisconsin and Denver beats Colorado College. If St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth each earn more points this weekend than the Gophers, it would drop Minnesota to seventh place for the second straight year. Minnesota has never opened the playoffs on the road two straight years since the WCHA’s two-round format began in 1971-72.
Down to the Wire
The past four weeks have featured plenty of tight games as Minnesota’s past nine games have been decided by two goals or less. In fact, eight of the nine have essentially been ties or one-goal games, since there have been three games that finished with two-goal margins due to an empty net goal.
Rallying Cry
Minnesota has shown tendency to battle back in its last four games as the Gophers have rallied from behind to tie the game eight times. Against Colorado College, the Gophers came back from 1-0 and 3-1 deficits on Friday and battled back from 1-0, 2-0 and 3-0 on Saturday. They rallied twice in Friday’s 2-2 tie with Minnesota Duluth and came back from a 3-2 deficit on Saturday against the Bulldogs.
Getting Ahead
Minnesota scored first in Saturday’s game with Minnesota Duluth and it led to victory as the Gophers are now 12-0-3 when scoring first and 2-11-4 when the opponents score first. The Gophers are 10-0-2 when ahead after one period and 0-8-3 when trailing.
Race to the Finish
The WCHA scoring title comes down to the final weekend between two linemates as Minnesota’s Ryan Stoa and Jordan Schroeder each have 33 points in league play. Minnesota Duluth’s Justin Fontaine is third in the league with 31 points. The last Minnesota player to win the WCHA scoring title was Reggie Berg, who scored 34 points in 1997-98. Stoa is also the league’s leader in goals with 16 and Schroeder shares the league assists lead with 22.
Dynamic Duo
Stoa and Schroeder are both among the nation’s leading scorers in overall games as Schroeder ranks sixth at 1.27 points per game and Stoa is ninth at 1.23 points per game. Both players have scored 38 points, but Schroeder has played in one fewer game. Stoa is 13th nationally in goals per game and Schroeder is seventh in assists per game.
Rookie Raves
Schroeder is the only freshman player in all of Division I hockey averaging more than one point per game. The national Rookie of the Month in November, Schroeder has scored points in 23 of his 30 games this season. He is the only freshman among the nation’s top 40 overall scorers. Denver defenseman Patrick Wiercioch ranks second among freshman at 1.00 points per game.
Fair Play
Sophomore Cade Fairchild ranks fourth nationally among defensemen in scoring with 29 points in 30 games. Fairchild had two assists in Saturday’s game for his eighth multiple point game of the season. He totaled 15 points all of last season. Air Force’s Greg Flynn, whose brother, Ryan, plays for the Gophers, is the nation’s highest-scoring blueliner at 1.03 points per game. Seven of the nation’s nine highest-scoring defensemen are from the WCHA.
