Saturday's win much needed

The shots were 2-1, sometimes worse during most of Saturday's victory at the Kohl Center.

The Badgers were coming in waves, as they say, against Alex Kangas. But he always seemed to be in the right spot. His previous high for saves was 44, twice, in overtime victories over Minnesota State Mankato. Remember that first round WCHA playoff series in Mankato two seasons ago when all three games went into one or two OTs.

Saturday was a normal 60-minute game. So Alex was busy. He thwarted the Badgers for two periods while the Gophers built a 3-0 lead.

Coach Don Lucia said his son, Tony, had lost a stripe after Friday's 4-2 loss, almost for sure for a costly turnover that led to the winning goal.

The Gophers must have an honor system of some kind which they don't talk much about. Stripes are good, losing them isn't. Well, he probably got one back Saturday. Tony scored the first goal in the second minute of play on the Gophers' first shot and set up Zach Budish for the second goal, also in the opening period.

Lucia is playing as well as he ever has in his four years at the U.

The split in Madison was huge. It keeps the Gophers in the WCHA race. They have played as tough an early schedule as any conference team, with series against the three teams considered to be the favorites: North Dakota, Denver and Wisconsin. Two were on the road.

Other observations from Saturday:

* Senior defenseman Brian Schack couldn't keep the smile off his face during a post-game interview. He scored his first goal of this season -- second of his career -- in his first game. He had a back problem, but was a healthy scratch the previous weekend. He also did not play Friday.

"I am Brian Schack," he said, introducing himself to the media. Few knew him. He got the big fourth goal which made it a 4-1 game and gave Kangas a little cushion to work with.

* Junior left wing Mike Hoeffel got real sick during warm-ups. He has a peanut allergy and coach Lucia suspects he unknowingly ate or drank something with peanuts. By the end of the first period, Hoeffel was feeling much better.

He had a similar episode at least once that I can remember as a freshman. I'm pretty sure that was in Colorado Springs against Colorado College.

* Zach Budish is making big strides as a freshman. He was right where he needed to be to score the Gophers' second goal. Freshmen were off-limits for mid-week interviews the first month of the season, so I haven't talked to him yet. Maybe this week.

* Gophers are 3-4-1 after eight games. A shakey start, but one they can recover from. They play their first nonconference series this coming weekend at home versus Bemidji State. It will be good to check on the progress of the Beavers as they prepare to join the WCHA next season.