Gophers series could be a tale of two goalies

Jim Gehrz, Star Tribune

Alex Kangas has given the Gophers outstanding goaltending in his freshman season.

Minnesota's Alex Kangas and Mankato's Mike Zacharias have given their teams solid goaltending this season, but who plays the best this weekend could be the deciding factor.

By ROMAN AUGUSTOVIZ, Star Tribune

Last update: March 12, 2008 - 11:35 PM

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WCHA PLAYOFFS Gophers at Minnesota State, Mankato • Friday, Saturday and Sunday (if necessary)

TV: FSN (all games) • Radio: 950-AM, 100.7-FM, 106.5-FM (Friday and Saturday); 830-AM (Friday and Sunday)

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Two of the WCHA's better goalies will face each other this weekend in Mankato. They play for the Gophers and Minnesota State Mankato, which meet in a best-of-three, first-round conference playoff series starting Friday.

Freshman Alex Kangas of the Gophers and junior Mike Zacharias are different in stature -- at 6-2, Kangas is four inches taller -- and have opposite styles but both have been almost equally effective for their teams.

And goaltending could decide this series.

"We all know, come playoff time, your goalie has to be the best player," Gophers coach Don Lucia said.

Of the two goalies, Kangas has been the bigger surprise. He came in as a backup, expected to play 10 or so games. Instead, he has started every game since mid-January.

Lucia said Kangas has had the best freshman season of any goalie he has coached.

"He has been our most consistent player from start to finish," Lucia said. "As a goalie, he is quiet and patient and there is not a lot of wasted motion. That's a compliment, when a goalie is quiet in the nets, pucks seem to hit him and he swallows up pucks."

Kangas did not make the best first impression, though. Used to what USHL coaches wanted after two seasons in that league, Kangas was not in the physical shape expected when the Gophers began practices. So he rode a stationary bike a lot the first few weeks.

How much imaginary ground did he cover? "Maybe the Tour de France," Kangas said. "I got back into shape and I have been fine ever since. I feel good, rested and relaxed."

Friday night will be his first start at the Alltel Center, home to Minnesota State Mankato. He did not play when the Gophers beat the Mavericks 4-3 there on Nov. 9, but played in Minnesota's 5-3 victory the next night at Mariucci Arena. Zacharias played in the first game of that series and watched the second. However, since Nov. 30, he has started 26 games in a row.

"The No. 1 reason for our success," Mavericks coach Troy Jutting said, "is we've got very good goaltending, consistent goaltending all season long."

Zacharias, who has a school record-tying four shutouts this season, said he relies on his quickness and speed.

Gophers senior forward Evan Kaufmann knows Zacharias well. Those two and defenseman Derek Peltier, Minnesota's captain, all played together on youth teams in Plymouth and in high school at Armstrong.

"I have probably taken hundreds of thousands of shots on Zack," Kaufmann said. "He likes to play an aggressive style in the nets. He will be out challenging shooters and he handles the puck a lot. He's a good goalie. We will have our hands full."

Maybe the Mavericks will too. Lucia calls the series a coin flip. Kangas expects a low-scoring -- "hopefully" -- tight series.

"[The Mavericks] certainly earned the right to have home ice," Lucia said, "based on what they have done during the course of the season, but if you look at the goals scored and goals against, they are pretty close. And we've had good luck playing against them. There are certain teams you play better against than others."

That's an understatement. The Gophers are 25-2-5 against MSU Mankato all-time. But history probably does not matter much this weekend, the goalies do.

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