Lucia juggles lineup for rematch

Jordan Schroeder and Jay Barriball, the Gophers' top two returning scorers, were demoted from the first line to the third line on Saturday for the second North Dakota game.

They will be paired with senior Mike Carman, who dropped from the second line, and will be the left wing on the third line. Not sure that those guys can hide there. Sioux coach Dave Hakstol will still give Schroeder's line plenty of attention.

On the new first line are center Patrick White and Ryan Flynn, up from the second line, and holdover Mike Hoeffel.

So here are the lines for tonight:

First line/ White with Hoeffel and Flynn

Second line/ Nico Sacchetti withy Tony Lucia and Jack Hansen ... Hansen is up from the fourth line

Third line/ Schroeder with Carman and Barriball

Fourth line/ Taylor Matson with Zach Budish and Joe Miller ... Miller sat out the first game. He replaces freshman Josh Birkholz.

Two of the defensive pairs also have changes:

First/ Nick Leddy and David Fischer ... That's the same, but Fischer had a rough opener. An ill-advised pass of his led to a Sioux breakaway on which Fischer had to take a penalty.

Second/ Aaron Ness and Cade Fairchild ... Ness moves up from the third pair

Third/ Seth Helgeson and Kevin Wehrs ... Helgeson drops down from the second pair. Wehrs replaced sophomore Sam Lofquist in the lineup.

I expect a much closer game tonight. Not sure the Gophers can close the gap between these teams in one night. They need some early success and they need to get a lot more shots on goal for a chance to win.