University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Heads to Duluth for Weekend Series
2/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Minnesota (15-15-2, 10-12-2) vs. Minnesota Duluth (17-10-3, 11-8-3)
Date: Friday-Saturday, Feb. 26-27
Time: 7 p.m. (Fri.) / 7:30 p.m. (Sat.)
Location: Duluth Ent. and Conv. Center (5,294)
Series History: Minnesota leads 127-70-13
Radio: WCCO 830 AM - Wally Shaver and Glen Sonmor
Television: Fox Sports North - Frank Mazzocco and Doug Woog
Minnesota continues its late-season stretch against highly-ranked opponents and its charge toward a first-round WCHA home playoff series as the Gophers face Minnesota Duluth in a two-game series. The Bulldogs rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits to sweep the Gophers in a series at Mariucci Arena earlier this season.
Last Time Out
The Gophers put together one of their best all-around weekends of the season last week, sweeping seventh-ranked Colorado College by 3-0 and 7-4 scores. Alex Kangas made 26 saves in Friday's shutout and Minnesota had seven different players score goals in Saturday's win. Four defensemen scored goals with Nick Leddy finishing with a goal and two assists.
Series History
Tight games have been the norm in the recent history between Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth as 11 of the past 12 matchups have been decided by two goals or less. The Bulldogs have won three straight one-goal games in the series, posting a 4-3 overtime win and a 3-2 win on Nov. 20-21 and a 2-1 win in last year's WCHA Final Five. Minnesota led both of this season's matchups 2-0 before the Bulldogs rallied to win each time. The Gophers lead the all-time series 127-70-13.
About the Bulldogs
Minnesota Duluth was swept in a WCHA series for the first time this season as North Dakota handed the Bulldogs 5-2 and 5-1 setbacks in Grand Forks last weekend. Minnesota Duluth is 2-6 over its last eight games and has scored 18 goals over the span for an average of 2.25 goals per game. The Bulldogs averaged 3.54 goals over their first 24 games of the year when they were 16-7-1 and sitting in first place in the WCHA. Since then, they were swept by Bemidji State and split series with Wisconsin and Michigan Tech. Minnesota Duluth has posted three overtime victories in WCHA games this season.
The defending WCHA playoff champions feature four high-scoring forwards as Jack Connolly has 40 points, Justin Fontaine has 38 points, Rob Bordson has 34 points and Mike Connolly has 32 points. Jack Connolly has 16 goals and 24 assists to share the WCHA lead in points. Fontaine leads the nation with 13 power play goals and ranks second in the league with 19 goals, while Bordson is second in the conference with 26 assists. Kenny Reiter has been the team's primary goalie in recent weeks and ranks 15th nationally with a 2.42 goals against average. He also has a .909 save percentage.
Spreading the Wealth
Minnesota had seven different players score goals in Saturday's 7-4 win over Colorado College, marking the first time seven different players have scored in a game since a 7-2 win at Ohio State on Oct. 20, 2006. The Gophers had 11 different players record a point in Saturday's win. The Gophers' seven goals were their most scored in a home game since an 8-2 win over Michigan on Nov. 25, 2006.
Blueline Offense
Four of the Gophers' seven goals on Saturday came from defensemen as David Fischer, Aaron Ness, Nick Leddy and Cade Fairchild all scored goals. The Gophers' defensemen had combined for eight goals over the team's first 31 games of the season.
Rank and File
Ranked eighth in last week's USA Today/USA Hockey poll and seventh in the USCHO/CBS College Sports poll, Colorado College was the highest-ranked opponent the Gophers have swept since taking two from seventh-ranked Denver on Feb. 17-18, 2006. The Gophers are now 5-8-2 against ranked foes this season, having also beaten Bemidji State, Michigan State and North Dakota.
Zeroing In
Friday's 3-0 win over Colorado College marked the Gophers' first shutout of the season and the fourth career shutout for junior goaltender Alex Kangas, who made 26 saves. The last time Minnesota went an entire season without a shutout was 1988-89.
Firing Squad
Minnesota put 42 shots on goal in Saturday's win as part of a recent trend for the Gophers, who have been firing away in recent games. Minnesota has averaged 36.8 shots on goal over the past 19 games. The Gophers had put 27.6 shots on goal over the first 13 games of the season. They have put 40 shots on goal or more 10 times in the last 19 games and been outshot by their opponents just three times.
First Period Fortunes
Minnesota outshot Colorado College 35-11 in the first period of the two games last weekend and its 19 shots on Saturday were its most in a first period all season. The Gophers' three first period goals on Saturday matched a season high from Dec. 5 at Minnesota State.
Third Time's the Harm
Allowing fewer than three goals has been one of the Gophers' keys to victory this season as they are 13-1-0 when allowing two or fewer goals and 2-14-2 when the opponent scores three or more. Oddly, two games that worked against the trend were both in the series at Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 29-30 when the Gophers won 7-4 and lost 2-1. The other was Saturday's 7-4 win over Colorado College.
Tough Stretch
Minnesota closes the regular season with eight games against teams all ranked in the nation's top 10 at the time of the meetings. Denver was ranked second and Colorado College seventh when the teams played. Minnesota Duluth is ranked 10th and next week's foe, Wisconsin, is ranked third. Minnesota's strength of schedule ranks ninth in college hockey entering this weekend's series.
Power Surge
Minnesota is 14-for-64 (21.9 percent) on the power play over the last 16 games. The Gophers were 8-for-66 (12.1 percent) over the first 16 games of the season. Minnesota has scored power play goals in 12 of the last 16 games. During the stretch, Minnesota scored power play goals in nine straight games for its longest such streak since Jan. 21-Feb. 25, 2005. The streak was especially impressive considering they had five or more power plays only twice during the nine-game span.
