Gophers coach Don Lucia said Wednesday that he liked the way his team rebounded last weekend.
Afetr being swept by Denver on the road, the Gophers swept Bemidji State at Mariucci Arena 3-0, 4-1 with "good starts, good goaltending, strong specialty teams play. ... When we are blocking shots, and when we taking care of the puck without turning it over, we can be a pretty good team."
The Gophers are 17-7-0 in the WCHA, leading the confererence with 34 points, two more than Minnesota Duluth.
But Lucia said the Mavericks will be a tough opponent. "They have a great year last year and were picked to finish fourth this year," he said.
Lucia said UNO beat Colorado College last Saturday and probably should have won on Friday instead of getting a split.
"Everybody is playing for something at this time of the year," Lucia said.
In UNO's case, it's home ice. The Mavericks are one of three teams tied for fourth place, three points ahead of Michigan Tech.
He said the Mavericks have speed, a good transition team, and the conference's top penalty kill in all games at 83.9 percent.
