Lucia plans to try some new players on the power play

"If we scored on a power play, that would certainly energize some of the guys that are on it," Gophers coach Don Lucia said Saturday night after the team's second 3-0 loss to Denver in a row. "Again, the same thing [as Friday night]. I thought our goaltending was decent tonight. Defensively, we gave up one goal five-on-five. I thought the guys battled. We did the things, but there was absolutely no reward for anyone.

"We have to find some ways to score goals. When you look at it, we have guys who scored some goals last year. It seems pucks are bouncing over sticks. There's frrustration. They care, They are disappointed and I feel bad for them. For three straight games, we have played pretty darn hard and there has not been a reward.

"But that is sports. You can do the right thing, but that doesn't mean you are going to win. The positive thing for me is, they did some things to put themselves in a position to win games. It hasn't happened yet."

"Obviously, we have to spend time on the power play. Maybe try some different guys there, some new players. We think we have the right guys there, but maybe we will look to some new guys to mix and see how they are going to do."

On Saturday, with senior wing Jay Barriball out with a hip pointer, Lucia had the first line -- Mike Hoeffel, Jordan Schroeder and Patrick White -- out on the first power play along with defenseman Cade Fairchild and Aaron Ness.

Getting the next power play shift were Nico Sacchetti, Mike Carman and Tony Lucia, with David Fischer and Nick Leddy.

Who else can Lucia try? Maybe Taylor Matson with his speed and Zach Budish with his braun to create traffic in front.

INJRIES, SICKNESS TAKING TOLL 

As if the early losses were not bad enough -- the Gophers are off to a 0-3-1 start -- the team has a lot of players hurting. Barriball, defenseman Sam Lofquist (foot) and defenseman Brian Schack (knee) have injuries. White was a question mark to play on Saturday until shortly before warm-ups. He was sick.

"We got some guys that are figthing a lot of stufff going on right now, so we got to get them healthy," coach Lucia said. "And we have to see where Jay's status is right now and kind of go from there. It is a long season. The reality is, it's tough to get shut out but whether you get beat 3-2 or 3-0, it really doesn't matter. A loss is a loss."

Were there any positives" "[Freshman forward Zach] Budish made some progress this weekend," Lucia said. "I noticed [sophomore forward] Nick Larson get up and down the rink a little bit. So we have to look at that, so maybe some guys need a little more ice time so we can get up and down the rink a little better."

The Denver defenseman seemed to be on the Gophers forwards all weekend long, limiting what they could do.