After losing to the Denver Pioneers Friday night, the Gophers were left with a 1-5-1 record in their last seven games in the thin air of Magness Arena in Denver, Colorado. Minnesota knew they would need to get off to a fast start tonight if they were going to have a chance at a weekend split, and that’s exactly what they did. Unfortunately, after scoring first for the second night in a row, the Gophers couldn’t keep that lead, and dropped the second game of the weekend to the Pioneers, 4-3 in overtime.
For the second night in a row the Gophers scored first, when Erik Haula (12) scored an unassisted goal just :38 into the game when he let a wrister go near the left hand circle, and beat Denver Goalkeeper Sam Brittain to the glove side for the only goal of the first period.
In the second, Zach Budish (8) got his second goal of the weekend, and gave Minnesota a 2-0 lead at 15:07 when he took a bounce off the end boards in front of the net, and kept digging at the puck until he slid it past the DU goalkeeper. The Gophers were sitting pretty, and it looked like they would take a two goal into the third period. But a Minnesota turnover late in the period, one of many crucial errors in the game by the Gophers, led to a breakaway goal by DU’s Chris Knowlton to bring the Pioneers to within’ a goal at 2-1.
Early in the third period, Luke Salazar scored for DU to tie the game at two after the Gophers took a couple of undisciplined penalties immediately after getting a power play of their own. Salazar was alone at the edge of the crease on the four on three, and easily tipped a cross ice pass by a helpless Patterson. Nico Sacchetti (2) got the lead back for the Gophers at 10:07 of the third, when he tipped his own rebound past Brittain, as the puck trickled just under the DU goaltender as he lay flat on his back. Sam Warning got the only assist. The beginning of the end came when Drew Shore scored on another power play with just 1:26 left in the game to tie it at three and send the game into overtime. He then scored off a rebound just :17 into overtime, after the Pioneers won the face-off and got the puck back to the the point for a shot. Shore went hard to the net and easily picked up the rebound and slid it into the net past Minnesota goalkeeper Kent Patterson for the game winner.
For his part, Patterson was sharp, and more focused in tonight’s game, after a questionable game on Friday night when he never looked comfortable in his own skates and let in another goal on a shot near the end line.
Senior Joey Miller, who got a rare back to back start this weekend, summed up the game by saying “This one hurts, but we’ve gotta regroup and keep looking forward”, which is certainly true. But Gophers Associate Head Coach Mike Guentzel summed it up best, saying “We shot ourselves in the foot too many times tonight”.
The Gophers were without the services of Kyle Rau, who was serving a one game suspension imposed by the WCHA after his hit on Jason Zucker Friday night. The hit, which drew a five minute major and automatic ejection from the game, certainly didn’t look a malicious check. But there were a lot of elements in the hit that added up to what looked like a questionable hit. He came in with speed, a little bit late, and with his hands and stick up a little high as Zucker was turning away from him after firing the puck into the zone. If Zucker hadn’t stayed down on the ice, it may have only been a two minute penalty, and Rau would have been on the ice tonight for Minnesota.
The Gophers (19-11-1, 15-7-0 WCHA) will play Bemidji State (15-12-3, 9-10-3 WCHA). BSU comes in riding a 11-4-2 record in their last 17 games. Game time is 7:00 PM (Central), and both games in the weekend series will be broadcast on Fox Sports North.