Bjugstad on recent surge: It's little more confidence

"It was a crazy environment," Gophers freshman center Nick Bjugstad said, referring to the sold-out Sanford Center iin Bemidji last weekend. "We had to battle back there. It was exciting."

Down 2-0, the Gophers rallied to beat Bemidji State 3-2 on Saturday on Bjugstad's tipped goal in overtime. It was his second goal of the game and third of the weekend.

"I just stood in that high tipper position -- we are big on tnat," Bjugstad said. "Luckily Cader [Cade Fairchild] put it right on my tape and I deflected it. We were battling in front of the net and it went in."

Two Beavers tried to push the 6-4, 204 Bjugstad aside with little success.

"We dealt with a little adversity [Saturday]," Bjugstad said. "We proved that we can come back. They are a really fast team, a tough team so if we carry that momentum into the playoffs we can put up [goals] against anyone."

The first someone the Gophers face is Alaska Anchorage in a best-of-three, first round WCHA playoff series at Mariucci Arena starting Friday. It's do or die for both teams. Whoever loses, their season is over.

COSTLY CALL

What happened was, with 40 seconds left in the third period and the Gophers ahead 3-2, Bjugstad reached ahead with his stick and hooked a Beavers' stick -- which went flying through the air." Whistle. Bjugstad goes to the penalty box. Beavers score with 19 seconds left in third period. Game ends in 3-3 tie.

"He came up to me in warm-ups [Saturday]," Bjugstad said, "and he apologized to me. He said it was a bad call. He said he had never seen that before. I don't know. I said, 'It is alright. We will move on here.' And that's what we did."

"We realize that a lot of games are going to be tight like this down to the last minute or so. It is definitely going to be huge winning [the Saturday] game and dealing with that adversity."

MORE BJUGSTAD

* On Bemidji State goalie Dan Bakala, who had a career-high 44 saves on Saturday: "He played good. It was tough to get shots in on him. Luckily we got the right shots in at the right time. I had a couple chances where I thought it was going in. I thought I had a wide-open net, but he came sprawling across. He is a great goaltender." ... Bjugstad had a game-high seven shots, two goals and an assist.

(Figuring it out: Cader is Cade Fairchild, Alty is Mark Alt, etc.)

* On whether he was getting frustrated Saturday: "You've got to stay positive even if [the shots] are not going in. Eventually they will come."