Erik Haula, the freshman from Pori, Finland, got a huge goal for the Gophers in their 3-1 victory over No. 8 Michigan on Sunday.

He scored the third goal -- his third of the season -- at 19:44 of the second period to expand Minnesota's lead from 2-1 to 3-1. The goal came on a rebound on a power play. Mike Hoeffel shot from near the left hash marks and goalie Bryan Hogan deflected the puck to Haula on the right side.

Haula had lots and lots of open net to aim at.

"Every gave we [freshmen] are getting better, I am getting used to the [WCHA] style of hockey," Haula said. "We are doing a great job as a team right now. We just have to keep it going.

"It is a confidence thing mostly for the younger guys," said Haula, who is centering the Gophers' top line with Hoeffel and Jay Barriball on his wings. He is also on the team's top power play.

His goal came 1 minute, 39 seconds after the Wolverines had scored their only goal.

"Coach has been talking about that," Haula said, "coming back after a goal, answering like that. It is great for the team. He has been talking about it all year, definitely at home. Usually we give up two and three [goals]. We have to work on getting back and answering like we did [Sunday]."

Haula is second in asissts and tied for fourth in points among freshmen nationally. He has three goals and 12 assists for 15 points. Wisconsin winger Mark Zengerle (3-19-22) leads in assists and points.

LARSON SCORES FIRST GOAL

Nick Larson, a junior forward from Hill-Murray. got the game-winner against Michgian at 17:10 of the second period. His goal made the score 2-0. He scored after defenseman Kevin Wehrs intercepted a pass at the red line then, after he crossed the offensive blue line, he spotted Larson open on his right.

"It's been a while," Larson said after scoring his first goal this season and sixth of his career. "I have had a lot of chances lately and just haven't been able to bury them. Finally. I got a nice pass from Wehrzo there and just put it on net. The goalie must have not seen it very well. It got in."

Larson scored from about 35 feet out.

"After Friday night we let down a little bit," Larson said, referring to a 5-2 loss to Michigan State. "We knew we would come back hard [Sunday]. We played a good team and we were ready for it."

He said the biggest difference between Friday's and Sunday's games was the Gophers took better care of the puck. "We knew Michigan was going to be a good transition team, so we made sure to get pucks in deep and go to work down low," Larson said.

ACCORING TO LARSON

* On Gophers goalie Alex Kangas' 36 saves: "He played awesome. Early in the game, they had some big chances there and he stepped up and made some big saves and allowed us to get that second goal and get a little edge."

That would be Larson's goal, which made it 2-0 Gophers.

* On the Gophers' freshman forwards: "Condo [had] a nice play there. And Bjuger, Bjugstad didn't score [Sunday] but he is coming back from injury. It is about this time of the year that the freshmen start clicking a little bit more, start playing well. From here on out -- they are almost like sophomores they have had so much game experience. We kind of look at them that way."

* On his goal: "[Michgian's Bryan Hogan] is kind of a straight-on goalie and I just tried to pick a corner there. No one was stepping up and I just tried to get it on net. It caught him off guard a little bit."