A night for first goals for three key Gophers

Sophomore winger Nico Sacchetti said the Gophers scoring two power play goals was big.

"Coach [Lucia] said after the seocnd period that we got our one power play goal out of thr way," Sacchetti said, "which was kind of our goal for each game. But he is like, 'We need another one just to put a dagger in them.' "

Mike Hoeffel scored on a 5 on 3 power play in the second period to give the Gophers a 2-1 lead after two periods. Jordan Schroeder added another power play goal, 5 on 4 this time, to make it 3-1 with 6:25 left in the third period.

"This is kind of what happens when things fall into place," Sacchetti said. "Guys start getting breaks and everything is coming together right now."

Sacchetti, Schroeder and Mike Carman all got their first goals of the season.

Junior winger Mike Hoeffel scored his ffifth goal in eight games. He missed the Gophers' last game, a 5-2 victory in Wisconsin, because of an allergic reaction to something he ate. Hoeffel has a peanut allergy.

Hoeffel was back in the lineup last night, on the first line.

Sacchetti had not scored since March 13, or 10 games ago.

Schroeder had not scored since Feb. 27 agains UMD, or 15 games ago.

Carman had not scored since Feb. 6 against Wisconsin, or 19 games ago.

SCHROEDER"S GOAL HUGE

BSU coach Tom Serratore on Jordan Schroeder's goal: "It just deflated us a little bit .... 6:25 left, it's tough. You are in Minnesota's building, they are a heck of a hockey team and you are down 3-1. I thought we let down a little bit and they get the fourth goal. That's disappointing and I wish that had not happened. You want to fight back."

TS on Gophers: "They're strong. We had a hard time penetrating. They are highly talented. I don't need to tell you guys that. I thought it was a great game. Those last five minutes they get a couple goals to create a little more separation."

TS on how he wants Beavers to play today: "We just have to play good solid, fundamental hockey. That;s all you can ask out of your team. We got to work hard, we got to execute, we got to pay attention to detail, we got to take care of pucks. And play with intensity, that's the way we play hockey. And that's all I ever ask out of our guys. You do that, let's just see what happens."

THE DON TALKS

Don Lucia on Beavers: "They showed why they have lost only two, three games in their last 20-plus. We had to work for it. ... They have very good team speed. That's one of the things I was very impressed with, they can go around the rink. They are certainly ready to come into the league [the WCHA] next year, there is no question about that."

* On three first-goal players; "It was good that some guys scored that hadn't scored yet. They got their first goals. Hopefully that will take some of the pressure off them and Alex gave us a good sound effort in the net tonight. It was a hard-fought win like we expected it to be."

* On whether Schroeder was getting frustrated with zero goals: "No, no. Sidney Crosby went five games without a point. It just happens. It is magnified because it is early in the season and not in the middle of the year. He is scoring points, he is playing well, and you saw the sequence when we were killing penalties. He was a big part of that. It is not just scoring, it is doing other things that help you win games. And he has been doing that too."

* On team's defense:"It was nice to see the low shot total tonight. Defensivle, we did a pretty good job. There are always a few mistakes made in a game but that 's going to happen. There were not a lot of sequences around are net. And especially the last 10 minutes they did not get a whole lot of anything."

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