ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - If the Gophers indeed were on the lookout for a little consistency, the kind of steady play worthy of their No. 2 national ranking, they made great strides to do so here Friday night.
They also kept the power-play party going in the process.
Minnesota scored on its first four power-play chances and easily dispatched of Alaska Anchorage 4-0 at Sullivan Arena. The Gophers won their fifth straight against the Seawolves dating back to last season and kicked off their final appearance in Anchorage as a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in fine form.
"You have to do things well to win, and tonight we did," said Gophers coach Don Lucia. "Just playing well doesn't always mean you're going to win. Tonight, we did a lot of good things."
Kyle Rau scored twice. Erik Haula and Nate Schmidt each totaled two assists, and goaltender Adam Wilcox finished with 14 saves to earn his second shutout of the season.
The teams conclude their weekend series tonight at 10.
After going 4-for-11 on the power play during last weekend's split with Minnesota State Mankato, the Gophers' time spent with the extra attacker only got better. Minnesota finished 4-for-6 on the power play Friday -- making for memorable math in the last three games (8-for-17 -- 47 percent).
"We had a great day out there, which felt really good," Rau said. "Erik made a couple of real good passes. He's the one who saw me.