University of Minnesota Athletics
Streaking Gophers and Huskies Clash This Weekend
1/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Minnesota (12-10-2, 7-7-2) vs. St. Cloud State (14-7-3, 9-5-2)
Date: Friday-Saturday, Jan. 22-23
Time: 7 p.m. (Fri.) / 5 p.m. (Sat.)
Location: National Hockey Center (5,763) - Fri. / Mariucci Arena (10,000) - Sat.
Series History: Minnesota leads 47-23-12
Radio: WCCO 830 AM - Wally Shaver and Glen Sonmor
Television: Fox Sports North - Frank Mazzocco and Doug Woog
Two red-hot teams meet for the only time this season in a home-and-home series. Minnesota is 7-1-1 over its last nine games, while St. Cloud State is 9-1-1 over its last 11 games and riding a six-game winning streak. For the second straight year, the teams meet as part of the annual "Hockey Day in Minnesota" on Saturday.
Last Time Out
Minnesota took three points from North Dakota with a 3-3 tie on Friday and a 5-1 win on Saturday. Jacob Cepis scored goals in each game, including the game-tying goal with 2:04 left in Friday's game. Alex Kangas played both games in goal for the Gophers and had 30 saves on Friday and 34 stops on Saturday. The Gophers held North Dakota's power play, which ranked sixth nationally, to 0-for-10 for the weekend.
Series History
The Gophers lead the all-time series 47-23-12 and are undefeated in the last eight meetings with seven straight wins. Minnesota went 6-0 against the Huskies last year, marking the 12th time the Gophers beat a team six times in a single season. Most recently, the teams met in a WCHA first round playoff series last March with Minnesota taking 4-2 and 3-0 victories. Five of the seven games during the current winning streak have been decided by two goals or fewer.
About the Huskies
St. Cloud State is 6-0 since the holiday break, sweeping series from Brown, Michigan Tech and nationally-ranked Quinnipiac. The Huskies opened the year 5-6-2, but have gone 9-1-1 since that point, beginning with a win at top-ranked Denver on Nov. 28. They lead the country with eight shorthanded goals and rank 10th nationally on the penalty kill at 86.4 percent. St. Cloud State has gotten solid goaltending from junior Dan Dunn and freshman Mike Lee to rank 11th in the country in scoring defense at 2.38 goals allowed per game. Dunn ranks eighth in the country with a 2.10 goals against average and seventh with a .926 save percentage, while Lee ranks 25th with a 2.47 goals against average and 20th with a .917 save percentage. Lee was a member of the United States' gold medal winning World Junior squad. Garrett Roe was a third-team all-WCHA selection last season and leads the team with six goals and 16 assists for 22 points. Ryan Lasch, a first-team all-WCHA performer in 2008-09, has 11 goals and nine assists for 20 points.
Quick Strike Offense
Tony Lucia and Jacob Cepis scored goals seven seconds apart in the second period of Saturday's win against North Dakota, marking the fastest two goals in Minnesota history. The previous record was eight seconds by Larry Olimb and Lance Pitlick on Feb. 27, 1989 against Colorado College.
Third Time's the Harm
Minnesota is 12-0-0 this season when holding opponents to two goals or fewer and 0-10-2 when opponents score three goals or more. The Gophers are also 11-1-2 when they score three or more goals with the only blemish being a 4-3 overtime loss to Minnesota Duluth.
Filling the Seats
Saturday's game against North Dakota was played in front of the second-largest paid attendance in Minnesota history. The crowd of 10,342 was only surpassed by the 10,527 that saw the Gophers play Wisconsin on Nov. 6, 2004. The crowd of 10,231 on Friday was the 12th-largest all-time and made it the third-largest crowd for a weekend series in Gopher history.
Power Surge
Minnesota has scored a power play goal in eight straight games as the Gophers are now 8-for-32 (25.0 percent) over the current streak. The Gophers were 8-for-66 (12.1 percent) over the first 16 games of the season. The streak is Minnesota's longest since scoring in eight straight last season from Oct. 25-Nov. 21. 2008. The last time the Gophers scored power play goals in nine straight games was Jan. 21-Feb. 25, 2005.
A Time to Kill
The Gophers have held their opponents to one power play goal in their last 25 chances. Minnesota is now 9-2-1 when holding teams without a power play goal and 3-8-1 when opponents score on the man-advantage. Minnesota has also not allowed a power play goal in the third period in its last 14 games as opponents are 0-for-15 over the span.
Tightening Up
The Gophers are allowing just 2.0 goals per game over their past 11 games, holding their opponents to two goals or less eight times. They allowed 3.2 goals per game in the first 13 games of the year and limited teams to two goals or less four times.
Shooting Gallery
Minnesota had outshot its opponents in seven straight games prior to Friday's game. In fact, the Gophers' opponents had no more than 25 shots in any of those games. The Gophers are 9-4-0 when outshooting their opponent.
Firing Squad
Minnesota is averaging 35.5 shots over its past 13 games after averaging just 27.0 shots per game in its first 11 games of the season. Defensively they've also improved, allowing 31.3 shots over the first 11 games and 28.8 shots during the past 13 contests.
Hot Streak
The Gophers' 7-1-1 mark over their past nine games marks their most wins in a nine-game stretch since an 8-0-1 mark from Nov. 25, 2006-Jan. 7, 2007. That stretch came at the end of the Gophers' school-record 22-game unbeaten streak. Minnesota also had a hot stretch to open the 2008-09 season when it was 7-0-4 through the first 11 games.
Keeping It Clean
The Gophers have committed a total of 31 penalties over their past eight games for an average of 3.9 penalties per game. Minnesota leads the WCHA in fewest penalty minutes with 12.6 per game. The Gophers have had five penalties or less in 15 of their last 19 games.
Road Warriors
The Gophers' current four-game road winning streak is their longest since winning five straight from Jan. 13-Feb. 17, 2007 when they beat Wisconsin and swept consecutive series at Alaska Anchorage and Colorado College. In fact, the Gophers had won back-to-back road games just twice since that streak with one of those being the consecutive WCHA playoff wins at Minnesota State in 2008. Minnesota's five road wins this season already matches last year's total when the Gophers were 5-7-1.
Saturday Night Fever
Saturdays have been the Gophers' best night of the week as they have a 8-2-1 record, while posting a 4-8-1 mark on Fridays and Sundays. Minnesota has outscored its opponents 40-21 on Saturdays and been outscored 42-26 on the other days of the week. The Gophers are 2-0-1 the past three Fridays after a 1-6 start.
