Chris Miller, here, subbing for Roman. I volunteered to cover the series in Mankato because he had a family function, so right, I end up driving 20 mph for the final 50 miles because everyone else on the road is an idiot. At least that's what I'm claiming.

Mavericks beat the Gophers 3-2. Not an especially well-played game on either side, but entertaining.

Ex-Gopher Michael Dorr scored for the Mavs. Adam Mueller, who had the game-winning goal for MSU, played with Dorr and Roseville and said "He had a little extra anger out there tonight."

Mueller was the standout player on this night. He looked like Sidney Crosby to me. Of course, I haven't covered a WCHA game in 12 years, so take that with a grain of salt.

Nate Condon had some giddyap for the Gophers, I thought.

The top line was missing Mike Hoeffel, who has the flu. Don Lucia said Hoeffel was eating OK at dinner after getting sick in the middle of the night, but didn't have a lot of strength. Patrick White moved to the first line with Erik Haula and Jay Barriball, although other wingers had guest-starring roles. Barriball was OK, but had a couple of long shifts and got caught at the end of them in a bad spot defensively.

Neither coach thought their team played all that great.

"We got better as the game went on," said Lucia.

Said MSU's Troy Jutting: "If they are honest, both teams would say they could have played better."

Roman might provide analysis based on watching the game on the TV. There are no replays available here, so I covered it like the old-time scribes did ... from memory.

The teams meet again Saturday night. Safe travels.