YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES
Roman Augustoviz spends Minnesota's winters covering college hockey, specifically the Gophers, and other University of Minnesota sports. During the summer, he writes about the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, with a dose of U sports sprinkled in. Follow him on Twitter @RomanStrib.
North Dakota ramblings
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz under College hockey Updated: October 20, 2009 - 6:33 PM
Before moving on to the Denver series this weekend, I'm going to look back one more time at last weekend to what happened at the Ralph.
On Friday, the Sioux manhandled the Gophers a bit. Here's what I remember:
FRIDAY
First period
* Freshman D Seth Helgeson was called for hooking at 1:30. It took the Sioux 47 seconds to score on the power play. A year ago, the Gophers rarely gave up a goal in the first eight minutes of any game.
Jason Gregoire scored this one by getting to an uncovered puck in the crease. Goalie Alex Kangas went down on his butt but not on the puck.
A defenseman knocked Gregoire down, but too late.
* North Dakota also got a penalty early in the first period, but the U power play got no shots. Indeed,Tony Lucia's long shot at the nine-minute mark was the Gophers's second of the game.
* Senior forward Darcy Zajac knocked Nico Sacchetti of the Gophers down with a big check late in the period.
* The first period ended with the Gophers trailing 1-0, but coach Don Lucia was satisfied. He said he expected the Gophers to play better the rest of the game. NoDak outshot the Gophers 11-8, but Kangas made a huge save with 4.7 seconds left to keep it a one-goal game. Chris VandeVelde, the Sioux's top line center, fired at the net from 10 feet out. Kangas' glove was there to snare the puck.
Second period
* The Sioux dominated the first two, three minutes, keeping the puck in the Gophers end. Lucia said this is when they clearly got momentum in the game. The U defensemen and the forwards could not get off the ice.
* When a North Dakota penalty put the U on a power play, it still worked out badly. Defenseman Derrick LaPoint scored a short-handed goal. On the ice was the second-power play unit, Sacchetti's line with Tony Lucia and Mike Carman and defensmen Sam Lofquist and Aaron Ness.
Carman lost the puck in the NoDak after he fell, which started a breakout the other way. Coach Lucia said he skated on a piece of tape. Obviously, bad luck.
* Shots were 6-1 Sioux in first six minutes.
* Gregoire stole the puck at Gophers' blue line midway through the period and only a hook by Gophers defenseman David Fischer, who made the bad pass, prevented a good scoring chance. Fischer was penalized at 11:15.
* Sioux wing David Toews just missed on a tip at 15 minutes. The shots after two periods were 30-17 in favor of the home team.
Third period
* VandeVelde hit a pipe at five minutes.
* North Dakota had a 5-on-3 power play for 17 seconds, and after one of the penalties expired, the Sioux scored. Genoway buried a 40-foot shot from the high slot at 5:56. On the ice for the U were forwards Jordan Schroeder, Mike Hoeffel and Zach Budish and defenseman Cade Fairchild.
* Mario Lamoureux, the brother of former Gophers women's hockey players Monique and Jocelyne, made it 4-0 Sioux at 8:18. Final shots were 43-22 for the Sioux.
Postgame quotes
* NoDak coach Dave Hakstol: We did a pretty good job in fron of [goalie Brad Eidsness]. He had some good, solid saves, too, in every period.
* Gophers goalie Alex Kangas: [The Sioux] have as good power play. Unfortunately for us, we took too many penalties in the third period and they got that stretch goal to go ahead 3-0.
We played a pretty good first period. But that short-handed goal hurt quite a bit.
SATURDAY
Here are some tidbits from the 3-3 overtime tie;
First period
* Lucia, whose teams are 6-5 in season openers now, juggled all four line and two of his three defensive pairs. And, in the biggest switch, started Kent Patterson in goal. Eidsness started his 38th game in a row for NoDak.
Schroeder's line started the game for the U, even though he and Barriball were switched from the first to third line.
* Budish had the first Gophers' shot on goal six minutes into the game.
* Jay Barriball scored on a 2-on-1 rush when he took the shot himself at 6:21. He roofed it, getting it over defenseman Chay Genoway, who was sliding on the ice.
* North Dakota had a 4-0 early edge in shots in this game, then the Gophers took the next five. North Dakota finished with a 13-7 lead in shots in the opening period.
Second period
* Freshman Danny Kristo of North Dakota had a breakawy in the first minute and Gregoire, the trailer on the play, shot wide.
* After the Gophers were called fro too mnay men on the ice, Genoway scored on a power play at 2:46 from the left point.
* The only brouhaha of the series occured at 4:53. It started with Gophers defenseman Cade Fairchild being checked hard into the boards in the North Dakota end. But Fairchild got up, took a pass and charged the goalie with the puck.
A North Dakota player grabbed him and soon all 10 skaters on the ice were involved in tussles. All 10 received penalties. In all there 24 minutes in penalties were assessed. Nico Sacchetti of the Gophers and Carter Rowney of NoDak received double minors for roughing.
The 10 players in the box was quite a sight. When the Gophers' David Fischer got called for tripping a minute later, he had to stand by the Gophers penalty box at first. It was full.
* Genoway scored his second goal on the ensuing power play. "Just like Kangas," the crowd chanted, mocking Patterson.
* Mike Hoeffel's first goal, short-handed at 11:23, tied the score at 2-2. Taylor Matson, who missed two-thirds of last season after knee surgery, set Hoeffel up on a 2-on-1 rush.
* Ben Blood of the Sioux knocked Schroeder down with about 3:30 left in the middle period. Schroeder got a lot of attention this week and some bumps and bruises no doubt. Although the period ended with the score deadlocked, the Sioux had a 25-11 edge in shots for the game.
Third period
* Fairchild missed at oen net on a Gophers power play early in the period. Shortly after that power play ended, the Gophers got another but did not get any shots.
* Hoeffel got his second goal of the game at 11:52 to put Minnesota ahead 3-2. Patrick White shot wide of the net, but the puck bounced back out front and Hoeffel buried it.
* Defenseman Jake Marto tied the score at 3-3 on a 40-foot shot with traffic in front.
* Matson had a great chance with about 1:25 left. Eidsness had left the net and was dashing back. As he was doing so, Matson shot from the right side and the puck either hit a post of Eidsness' stick. He had to dive to cover the right corner. The puck caromed out front to Hoeffel, looking for a hat trick. He shot but Marto was there for the stop.
* Attendance was 11,898, a little over the announced capacity.
Overtime
* North Dakota had a 3-1 edge in shots. The Gophers attempted only one shot in the five minutes. It came from near the blue line by Fischer.
Postgame quotes
* Marto on his tying goal: I came across the middle and took the shot. It ended up bouncing in off somebody.
* Marto on his big save: I stopped [the puck] with my shin pad. You've got to be there and help out the goalie.
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