Gophers come up empty against Seawolves backup

One night after rediscovering their offense, the Gophers were shut out.

Alaska Anchorage turned to backup goalie Chris Kamal, who had sat for more than two months, and he made 30 saves as the Seawolves stunned the Gophers 1-0 at Mariucci Arena.

Freshman center Matt Bailey scored the game's only goal at 1 minute, 18 seconds of the third period. He got the puck at the blue line and scored from the left circle on a rush.

The Gophers won the series opener 5-1, outshooting UAA 48-29. The players in maroon and gold appeared much faster and more skilled than the Seawolves -- until Saturday's rematch.

"Feast or famine," Gophers coach Don Lucia said, succinctly describing his team's goal-scoring this weekend.

Alaska Anchorage (8-13-3, 7-11-2 WCHA) ended a three-game losing streak with the victory. The Gophers fell to 11-10-3 overall and back to .500, at 8-8-2, in the conference.

"For whatever reason, we didn't have it last night," Seawolves coach Dave Shyiak said. "Tonight you saw what we are made of. We played a good strong team game. We were smart with the puck.

Kamal, who had a fat 4.13 goals-against average and a dismal .831 save percentage in five previous games, was making his first start since Nov. 20 when Alaska Anchorage lost 4-3 at home to Colorado College.

The 5-9, 186-pound freshman from Alpharetta, Ga., played in Alexandria, Minn., last season with the North American Hockey League.

"Chris has worked hard in practice," Shyiak said. "He certainly deserved the start tonight, played outstanding and got the job done."

The teams combined for only 12 shots the first period. But the Gophers dominated the second, outshooting UAA 16-4.

"They kept four guys back all night," Lucia said. "The first period, we didn't adjust to it very well. But that second, we had a lot of good looks."

Through 10 minutes, the shots were 11-1 in the Gophers' favor. About that time the referees started blowing their whistles. Six players received minors for roughing during three skirmishes around one net or the other.

But they were going off in twos, one player per side, so there was no advantage. Each team had a brief power play late in the second period.

But both goalies were sharp. The closest the Seawolves came to getting the puck past the Gophers' Kent Patterson in the second period was a shot that went off defenseman Aaron Ness' skate and slid a foot or so wide of the net. Patterson finished with 21 saves.