For the third time this season, senior Kent Patterson of the Gophers is the WCHA defensive player of the week. He also earned that honor on Oct. 11 and Nov. 1.

Patterson was in the nets as the Gophers beat Bemidji State 3-0 on Friday -- he got his seventh shutout this season in that game -- and 4-1 on Saturday. He stopped 13 shots the first night, 20 the second. The only goal he gave up came on a Beavers' power play. His save percentage was .971 last weekend.

The 6-1, 195 Patterson is from Plymouth and is a Colorado Avalanche draft pick. He leads the nation in victories with 21 and shutouts, too. He is first WCHA games with a 2.00 goals-against average and second with a .922 save percentage.

Among the other nominees for this award were Bemidji State defenseman Brad Hunt, who had the lone Beavers goal last weekend; Colorado College defenseman Gabe Guentzel, the son of Gophers associate head coach Mike Guentzel, and Nebraska Omaha defenseman Andrej Sustr, who the Gophers will see this weekend.

Patterson's teammate, freshman forward Kyle Rau, is the conference's rookie of the week for the second time. He received that honor the first time on Oct. 18.

Rau, a left winger from Eden Prairie, had two assists on Friday and one on Saturday. He had six shots in the series and was a plus-2.

Rau, a 2011 third-round draft pick of the Florida Panthers, is the WCHA's second highest scoring freshman with 14 goals and 17 assists for 31 points. Nationally, he is tied for third in goals, and tied for second in points.

UND FORWARD ALSO RECOGNIZED

Junior Corban Knight of North Dakota is the WCHA's offensive player of the week. He had three goals and an assist as UND beat Michigan Tech 4-2 the first night and tied the Huskies 1-1 in overtime the second night.

Knight has 11 goals and 19 assists for 30 points this season.

Forwards Erik Haula of the Gophers and Jason Zucker of Denver were others considered for this award.

Haula, a sophomore center, had two goals and an assist in the Gophers' second game against BSU. Zucker, a Wild prospect, had a goal for Denver in each game at Wisconsin last weekend.

Zucker, of course, was injured on a big hit from Rau in Denver two weekends ago. He missed Saturday's game that weekend. But he came back quickly.