Gophers complete sweep of Seawolves

Marlin Levison, Star Tribune

Gophers Patrick White was all smiles after he scored a first period goal on an assist from Tony Lucia.

Alex Kangas made 31 saves to help Minnesota bounce back from a four-game winless start.

By ROMAN AUGUSTOVIZ, Star Tribune

Last update: November 2, 2009 - 1:21 PM

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GOPHERS 4, ALASKA ANCHORAGE 1

Up next: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Wisconsin • TV: FSN (830-AM Friday, 1570-AM Saturday)

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WCHA weekend sweeps last season for the Gophers were few and scattered. They had two during the regular season, both against St. Cloud State.

So Sunday was sweet. After going winless in their first four games, the Gophers buzzed past Alaska Anchorage 4-1, scoring on three odd-man rushes at Mariucci Arena before an announced crowd of 9,310.

Actually, there were maybe 3,500 there. Those fans who did not stay home to watch the Vikings-Packers game saw goalie Alex Kangas make his second consecutive start for the first time this season. He was stellar, with 31 saves, a handful worthy of a netminders' highlights reel.

"They had maybe one shift where they had a lot of sustained pressure," Kangas said, "otherwise it would be little spurts on the power play. I just tried to stay mentally sharp and be ready for any odd-man rushes or anything that occurred."

Coach Don Lucia called it a bounce-back weekend for his Gophers, now 2-3-1 in the conference and overall.

"We needed to win two games," Lucia said. "It got a little pond-hockeyish out there tonight for a while with the odd-man rushes. And I thought Alex might have played his best game of the year."

Lucia had rotated Kangas with Kent Patterson the first two series of the season but not this time.

"We had the day off" on Saturday, Lucia said, "I felt it was an opportunity for him -- I told him if we win on Friday that he could come back on Sunday. I wanted to give him a little carrot. So he knew that going in, and he responded with the way he played this weekend."

Kangas had 22 saves in the Gophers' 5-1 victory in the first game of the series.

One sore point for the Gophers remained after Friday, an 0-for-25 power play. The Gophers soothed that ache on their first power-play chance Sunday. Patrick White got the goal at 12 minutes, 31 seconds of the first period after a good bounce and a deft pass. Defenseman David Fischer banged a shot off the left post, which went to Tony Lucia on the right side. He slipped a pass across the crease to an uncovered White.

Mike Hoeffel's third goal of the season, on a rebound with 17 seconds left in the first period, made it 2-0.

Lucia's third goal of the weekend gave the Gophers a 3-0 cushion five minutes into the second period.

Mickey Spencer of the Seawolves (3-5-0, 1-3-0) ended Kangas' shutout bid at 11:14 of the third period, but the Gophers' Jay Barriball answered 19 seconds later with a goal to make it 4-1.

"We did not want to certainly lay an egg and give up points this weekend," Don Lucia said, "when we've got another tough road trip [to Wisconsin] next week."

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