University of Minnesota Athletics
Three Goal Deficit Sinks Gophers in St. Cloud
1/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
A three-goal first period deficit proved too much to overcome as Minnesota lost to St. Cloud State for the first time in nine meetings with a 4-3 setback on Friday in St. Cloud.
The 12th-ranked Huskies jumped on the Gophers with three goals in the first period and held on for the victory to improve to 15-7-3 overall and 10-5-2 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Minnesota fell to 12-11-2 overall and 7-8-2 in the league. Both teams entered the game red hot as St. Cloud State is now 10-1-1 in its last 12 games and Minnesota is 7-2-1 over its last 10 outings.
It marked the first time the Gophers allowed three goals in the opening period since a 7-3 loss to North Dakota on Jan. 27, 2007. The Huskies scored their three goals despite being outshot 13-10 for the period. Minnesota owned a 42-33 advantage in shots for the game as Alex Kangas bounced back to finish with 29 saves. Dan Dunn had 39 stops for the Huskies. Both goalies were at their best in the third period with Kangas making 16 saves and Dunn totaling 14 saves.
Minnesota bounced back with three goals of its own in the second period, holding a 15-7 advantage in shots for the period. In fact, the Gophers attempted 39 shots in the period to just 15 for the Huskies.
St. Cloud State's first goal came at the 7:37 mark as defenseman Garrett Raboin cut down the slot and took a perfect feed from Jared Festler for the goal. Festler won a puck out of the corner and sent a pass in front of the goal, hitting Raboin in stride for the score. Ryan Lasch also picked up an assist on the play.
Festler scored himself at 16:20 of the period to put the Huskies ahead 2-0. Lasch had the puck in front of the net and patiently waited for Kangas to commit before sliding the puck across to Festler for the goal.
Garrett Roe finished St. Cloud State's three goal period, taking a pass from Sam Zabkowicz and getting a stride ahead of the defense to score with 8.8 seconds left before intermission. Roe was being dragged to the ice by a Gophers' defenseman on the play and was able to loft a shot over Kangas for the Huskies' third goal.
It took Minnesota just 2:18 into the second period to get on the scoreboard when Tony Lucia took a shot from a sharp angle to the right of Huskies' goalie Dan Dunn that slipped through his pads. Aaron Ness had an assist on the play as Lucia matched a career high with his 19th point of the season.
St. Cloud State regained its three-goal lead at the 6:12 mark on a one-timer by David Eddy. Tony Mosey passed to Eddy, who took the puck in the slot and didn't hit the shot flush, but got enough on it to loft it past Kangas into the back of the net.
Minnesota caught a fortunate bounce to cut the lead to 4-2 at 9:07 mark of the period. Jacob Cepis took the puck into the zone and was passing to a teammate cutting down the slot, but the puck hit the skate of a Huskies' defenseman and rolled up the right pad of Dunn and into the net. It was Cepis' fifth goal in seven games with the Gophers and extended his scoring streak to six games. Ness also assisted the goal for his fifth career multiple-point game and giving him five assists in his last two games at St. Cloud.
The Gophers had the game's first power play with just under seven minutes left in the second period and kept the puck in the zone for almost the entire two minutes and did not allow St. Cloud State to change lines, however, Minnesota was unable to score. Minutes after the penalty expired, the Huskies' Drew LeBlanc broke free from the defense and put a shot through the five hole on Kangas, but the shot hit the post.
Jake Hansen pulled Minnesota to within 4-3 on a power play goal with 1:50 left in the second period. Jordan Schroeder started the play with pass across to Cepis whose shot was saved. The puck was loose in the crease with Dunn out of the net. Hansen was able to fight off a pair of Huskies' defenders to score on his third whack at the loose puck. It marked the Gophers' ninth straight game with a power play goal, which is their longest such streak since Jan. 21-Feb. 25, 2005.
Minnesota's best scoring chances of the third period came on a power play with just over eight minutes left. Cepis broke free of the defense and Dunn stopped his shot before containing Zach Budish's rebound attempt. Budish had two more chances seconds later, but Dunn again made the saves as he stopped all five Gopher shots on the power play.
The Gophers hurt their comeback chances with two penalties in the final seven minutes of the game, including a too many men on the ice penalty with 3:11 remaining.
Minnesota finished 1-for-3 on the power play, while St. Cloud State was 0-for-4 as the Gophers have now held their opponents to one power play goal over their last 29 chances.
The two teams will play again on Saturday at Mariucci Arena at 5 p.m. as part of the annual Hockey Day in Minnesota.
