Bad Team Loses to Worse Team

Gophers fall 5-3 at home to the 6th place team in the 7-team Big Ten Conference

Minneapolis, MN - Sometimes when you watch Gopher hockey, it's hard to imagine that they're ranked at all, let alone ranked in the top 10.

This paragraph was going to go at the end, but it deserved to be placed at the beginning: Right now, the Gophers are a bad team.  They have no powerplay, they have no offensive spark, they seem to have little on-ice leadership.  They returned an All-American on offense and have the best freshman in the country, but they sit 41st in total offense behind college-hockey juggernauts like Bentley and Bowling Green.  They dearly miss Tommy Novak, who, despite all the other NHL draft picks littering the Gopher lineup, appears to be the only guy on the team that can actually make plays.  They should be better.

Consistently inconsistent, the Minnesota Gophers (13-11-1 Overall, 4-8-1 B1G) had another head-scratcher of a night against the ineffective Michigan Wolverines (9-10-2, 4-7-2), giving up a goal 14 seconds into the game and struggling to find their footing throughout the rest of the contest, ultimately falling 5-3 with an empty netter.



Gopher goalie Mat Robson's shutout of then #1 St. Cloud State last Sunday evening earned him the start in Friday's contest, and he was greeted rudely when Dexter Dancs beat Robson and the Gophers just 14 seconds into the game to put the Wolverines up 1-0.  Casey Mittelstadt answered back for Minnesota at 2:21 to tie it at 1-1, but Michael Pastujov banked one in off of Tyler Sheehy and Robson to put Michigan back on top 2-1 at 8:13.

The Wolverines scored late in the 3rd to increase the lead to two at 3-1 when Cooper Marody walked right up the slot on a 3-on-2 rush before firing the puck past Robson.

Minnesota coach Don Lucia switched up goalies heading into the second, putting junior Eric Schierhorn in net to try to give his team a spark.  Something the coaches did during intermission seemed to work, as the Gophers came out firing in the second, drawing an early penalty.

The power play might seem like an unlikely would-be hero for Minnesota, as it hadn't scored since December 2nd against Wisconsin and was 13-for-102 coming into the game, having gone 0 for its last 27.  All streaks are made to be broken, and the Gophers got off the schneid when Scott Reedy put a rebound past Wolverine netminder Hayden Lavigne to get the Gophers back within one at 3-2.

Michigan would score yet another backbreaking goal late in the 2nd when a neutral-zone Gopher turnover led to a chance and a Michigan goal for Brendan Warren at 18:01 of the period.  Warren fanned the one-time chance, but the changeup fooled Schierhorn and made it just past the goal line for a goal to give Michigan back their two-goal edge at 4-2.

The second period was ultimately a disappointing one, as the Gophers had more jump and more of the puck in the middle frame but tied 1-1 on the scoreboard.

The third period saw another brutally-ineffective Gopher powerplay with a chance to bring the game within reach near the middle of the period.  As the clock wound down, Minnesota didn't seem to have what it took to break down the Michigan defense.  Brannon McManus finally dented the twine when scored on a rebound with 3:38 left in the third to bring the Gophers back within one at 4-3.

Minnesota pulled their goalie late and drew a powerplay with just 42 seconds to play.  Here was the chance to really do something heroic on the man advantage and tie up the contest.

The ugly powerplay reared its head, though, as right off the draw Steve Johnson mishandled the puck, leading to a Michigan rush and empty net goal, sending an already sparse home crowd heading for the exits.  Minnesota finished the night outshooting Michigan 27-19 and going 1-5 on the PP.  Michigan was 0-2 on their man advantage opportunities.

The loss drops Minnesota to 4-8-1 in the Big Ten conference and 13-11-1 overall.  The Gophers dropped down to #12 in the Pairwise Rankings following the loss, and most of that ranking appears to come on the backs of a tough schedule and good wins against North Dakota, St. Cloud, and Clarkson (who has only lost once outside of its sweep at the hands of the Gophers).  Minnesota will need to get their act together and win some games they're supposed to win if they want to be playing late into March (let alone April).

The Gophers have another chance to right the ship Saturday, when they face these same Wolverines.  Puck drop is at 7.

Let's GO, Gophers.  Let's go.