Sports

Gophers stand pat; Sioux plug Rocco into lineup

Lucia sticks with Seth Ambroz; Sioux turn to Rocco Grimaldi for a scoring lift.

By Roman Augustoviz

November 6, 2011 at 12:24AM

The easiest job in the world these days is putting together the Gophers' line charts. Nothing changes.

Of course, when you are winning, a coach's instinct is to stay with the status quo.

So for the second game of the Gophers-Fighting Sioux series, the U's line remain the same:

Kyle Rau-Nick Bjugstad-Zach Budish ... Rau, the freshman, actually has one more point than Bjugey, 14 to 13 points. Both had seven goals. Budish still had not gotten real hot. He has three goals, six assists for nine points. He has missed two of the last three seasons of hockey with knee injuries.

Sam Warning-Erik Haula-Jake Hansen ... This is really a second No. 1 line for the Gophers. Makes the maroon and gold hard to play.

Nate Condon-Taylor Matson-Seth Ambroz ... Ambroz got a major penalty and a game disqualification for contact to the head early in the second period. But Lucia has his out there again. He should be fresh and you want a physical player like he is against the Sioux.

Tom Serratore-Travis Boyd-Nick Larson ... This trio combined for the Gophers' second goal in their 2-0 victory over the Sioux on Friday. ... Boyd won four of five faceoffs, including one that led to Serratore's breakaway goal.

D-pairs:

Jake Parentau-Nate Schmidt

Seth Helgeson-Justin Holl

Ben Marshall-Mark Alt

Goalie:

Kent Patterson

SIOUX MAKE ONE BIG SWITCH

The Fighting Sioux made only one change among their skaters, but it jumps out at any astute observer. Freshman Rocco Grimaldi is at left wing on the third line.

Grimaldi was picked to be the WCHA's rookie of the year in the coaches' and media' preseason conference polls. But he has been bothered by injuries and has missed six of the Sioux's first nine games, including Friday's.

He has one assist and is a minus-six in three games.

Not sure yet if UND coach Dave Hakstol will stay with junior Aaron Dell in the nets. If I had to guess, I'd say yes. He stopped 30 of 32 shots on Friday and one of the goals he gave up was on a power play when the defense in front of him disappeared.

THREE KEYS TO A GOPHERS SWEEP

1) Get the power play going again. It has gone one for 10 the past two games. Needs to be better than that. Part of the problem Friday was that Erik Haula and Jake Hansen, two of the key players on the Gophers' second power-play were in the penalty box for one player in the first game.

2) Play with desperation, as if you are behind. This is a big game for UND. They are 1-4-0 in the WCHA, the Gophers are 5-0-0, so there is already an eight-point separation between them. It will be either 12 or six at the end of the night --- or stay at eight if they tie. That's a huge difference. The Fighting Sioux will be flying and hitting. Count on it. The Gophers have to match that intensity from the start.

3) Keep eating pucks. The Gophers blocked 16 shots on Friday, sacrificing their bodies to keep Kent Patterson less busy. UND obviously has to be frustrated with its scoring problems. Blocked shots don't go in -- unless it's a flukey play. The Gophers have been wearing plastic shields on their skates in practices to limit bruises and pain. Now it's time to do whatever it takes to send the Sioux home with two losses. That will be a long 310-mile bus ride.