Alex Kangas was the winning goalie in the Gophers' season opener on Oct. 8, beating Massachusetts.

That remained the senior's lone victory until Sunday. His record had plunged to 1-4, his goals-against average had soared to 4.47. He had not started a game since Nov. 5.

But Sunday, with Michigan in town for the College Hockey Showcase, coach Don Lucia turned to Kangas again.

And Kangas, who ranks third in program history in career saves and games for a goalie, was at his best. He stopped 36 shots as the 15th-ranked Gophers beat the No. 8 Wolverines 3-1 before an announced crowd of 9,292 at Mariucci Arena.

"It was a very good game on our part," Lucia said, "and it started with Alex. It is amazing how the penalty kill improves when your goalie plays real well."

Michigan was 0-for-4 on the power play. They had four shots on goal during a five-minute man advantage in the second period and didn't manage any on their other three power plays.

"[Kangas] was sharp Friday when he went in," Lucia said, referring to his 21 saves on 23 shots the last 2 1/2 periods in relief of Kent Patterson during a 5-2 loss to Michigan State.

"And this is the best he has looked all year. Our team was able to feed off that. We scored the first goal, and we played a good game from start to finish."

Kangas stopped Michigan's Dave Wohlberg on a breakaway midway through the third period and had several saves in succession on shots around the net in the last minute.

"When Alex is at his best," Lucia said, "there are no rebounds. He is swallowing pucks up and putting them into the corners.

"[Sunday] we saw that from him and Friday we saw that from him. It is probably really the first time all year we have seen that. That's a good sign for us."

Freshman Nate Condon gave the Gophers (8-5-1) a 1-0 lead in 14 minutes, 50 seconds into the game, finding the five-hole from close range.

It stayed 1-0 until a three-goal flurry in the last three minutes of the second period. At the 17:10 mark, junior Nick Larson got his first goal of the season for a 2-0 Gophers lead.

Less than a minute later, Scooter Vaughan put in his own rebound for the Wolverines (8-4-4). But freshman Erik Haula restored the Gophers' two-goal lead by scoring a power-play goal with 16 seconds left in the period.

"The guys' will was there," Lucia said. "They were hungry. Our seniors hadn't had that trophy yet. Michigan had tattooed us three times in a row."

What trophy? It's the John Mariucci and Al Renfrew Coaches' Trophy. For 18 years, it was at stake when the Gophers and the Wolverines met in the College Hockey Showcase. But this was final year of the showcase, which also involved Wisconsin and Michigan State.

Last year, Michigan stomped the Gophers 6-0 in Ann Arbor.

"[Coach Lucia] didn't really need to say much" about that rout, Larson said. "We were all there last year. We got a little payback, you could say."