Gophers coach Don Lucia said Monday on his weekly radio show that too much is being made of the difference in his team's record on Fridays and Saturdays.

He said the Gophers had three straight road games on Fridays recently and maybe didn't get off to a good start in one of them, played well in the other two but lost. They opened December with a home win on Friday over Minnesota State, he said. As for the loss this past Friday to Michigan Tech, Lucia said, the Huskies are a much better team.

"Making sure that guys are serious and ready to go -- I think that is on the players," Lucia said. "They maybe have to do a better job of focusing before a game and making sure they are ready when the puck drops.

"Obviously Saturday, when you lose on Friday, you have to come back with that much more resolve and that certainly happened. And that is a positive.

"I look at our guys right now. Obviously, we are in great shape because we've played really well on Saturday nights in game two [8-0-1]. It just reinforces -- and I have mentioned it to the guys more than once -- that is why the Friday game to me is the most important game of the weekend. Because if you can win on Friday, now you have a chance to set yourself up with a great weekend.

"Now if you lose on Friday or tie or whatever, now you are trying to react or scrap off some points," Lucia said.

"You see a lot of splits. There is a lot of balance within college hockey and certainly within the WCHA. But we obviously feel very good about where we are at right now with an 11-3 league record."

There were five WCHA series this past weekend. Four were splits while Minnesota Duluth won and tied Wisconsin at the Kohl Center to extend its unbeaten streak to 14 games (11-0-3).

Four of the Gophers' five losses have come on Fridays. Here is a look at them and the next game:

Nov. 11: Wisconsin 3, Gophers 1 at Kohl Center. Gophers' worst game of season. They were coming off an emotional sweep of North Dakota and it showed. Badgers built 3-0 lead until U scored in last two minutes.

Nov. 12: Gophers 4, Wisconsin 1 at Kohl Center 1. Visitors outshot Badgers 33-14, dominating effort.

Nov. 18: St. Cloud State 4, Gophers 3 at National Hockey Center. Huskies took 4-1 lead into final five minutes.

Nov. 19: Gophers 5, St. Cloud State 0 at Mariucci. Goalie Kent Patterson made 30 saves for shutout, Nick Bjugstad had hat trick. Quite a difference.

Dec. 2: Michigan State 4, Gophers 2 at Munn Arena. Visitors fell behind 2-0 and 4-2.

Dec. 3: Gophers 4, Michigan State 4 at Munn Arena. Down 3-1, Gophers scored three goals in a row to take lead.

Dec. 9: Michigan Tech 3, Gophers 2, OT. First overtime loss of season for U. Dropped Gophers' home record to 8-2.

Dec. 10: Gophers 6, Michigan Tech 2. Gophers score last four goals of third period.