Tech captain thrilled to be playing Gophers -- even before his OT goal

Gophers coach Don Lucia calls Mel Pearson one of the good guys in college hockey.

He apparently is a pretty good coach, too. Pearson, in his first season at Michigan Tech, has the Huskies tied for fourth place in the WCHA standings going into Saturday's games.

They beat the first-place Gophers 3-2 in overtime on Friday.

"Our goaltender made a couple big saves that held our team in there [Friday]," Pearson said. "And then we stayed with it and battled pretty good.

"They are good hockey players. They are good Division I players. They want to do well and we are just trying to give them some leadership and the direction and let them play. And they are doing it on the ice."

Unlike the No. 2-rated Gophers on Fridays. Here is Minnesota's record the past five Fridays:

Wisconsin 3, Gophers 1 at Kohl Center on Nov. 11 ... Probably worst game of year for U. Gophers trailed 3-0 until goal in last two minutes. Had only 25 shots, one for three on power play.

Michigan State 4, Gophers 3 at Munn Arena on Nov. 25 ... Fell behind 2-0 and 4-2. Outshot Spartans 43-23. Zero for three on power play.

Gophers 4, Minnesota State Mankato 2 at Mariucci on Dec. 2 ... Only one for five on power play, but that was winning goal early in third period. Then added empty-netter late.

Michigan Tech 3, Gophers 2, overtime at Mariucci on Dec. 9 ... Fell behind 2-1 early in third period. Power play was zero for three. Outshot Huskies 36-26.

The pattern here seems to be slow starts, few power plays, lots of shots. Opponents seem to stress staying out of the penalty box and letting the Gophers shoot all they want -- from the outside. So the Gophers get a lot of shots on net, few goals. Something has to change.

And somehow it does on Saturdays. The Gophers are 7-0-1 on Saturdays.

Gophers defenseman Seth Helgeson said he did what he was supposed to do on Tech's winning goal. Brett Olson drove to the net with Helgeson on his heels.

Helgeson said the only thing he might change is the position of his stick as he tried to stop Olson.

"We are going to go over a lot of film [Saturday]," Helgeson said, "and talk about [Friday's] game but we got to park it and move on."

SUPERIOR GUY

"I was fortunate enough to be on the team back when we beat [the Gophers] at Tech," said Olson after Friday's victory.

"We knew that anytime we can play them, especially when they are this good this year, and get a victory is key," Olson said. We needed this, too. We have been in a slump for a little bit. We were ready to go."

Tech had gone 1-3 in its last four games. Two of those losses were to No. 1 Minnesota Duluth last weekend in Houghton.

Olson is a normal Huskie, meaning he was not taken in the NHL draft when he was eligible. In fact, Tech has just one drafted player, Blake Pietila. He scored the Huskies' first goal. The Gophers had 15 NHL draft picks on the ice at times.

Olson seemed to be genuinely thrilled to play the Gophers.

"I grew up watching the WCHA when teams would come into Duluth," said Olson of Superior, Wis., "and [I] saw a couple of games here at Minnesota and at Wisconsin when I was younger. It is a great opportunity to be able to play at this level and in this conference."