Gophers feel good with share of first halfway through WCHA sked

Gophers coach Don Lucia made four lineup change on Saturday -- the most this season -- after his team's 3-2 loss to Michigan Tech the night before.

"We had different guys in our lineup just to see if we could create a little bit more energy in our lineup," he said.

Lucia had an entirely new fourth line and a new defensive partner, freshman Blake Thompson, for Nate Schmidt.

"Blake Thompson, it is unfortunate he got the penalty I thought he played his best game since he has been here when he got into it," Lucia said. "He made some good plays with the puck and was physical the way we wanted [him] to [be]."

Thompson received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a hit to the head late in the second period. He had not played since Oct. 23, partly at least because he had mono.

SPIRITED EFFORT

The Gophers scored four consecutive goals in the third perior in beating Tech 6-2 on Saturday.

"We just came out with better energy mentally. It is more mental that physical."

Sure seems that way with the Gophers who are a mediocre 6-4-0 on Fridays but 8-0-1 on Saturdays.

Here is a look at the top of the WCHA after 14 games for most teams, which is halfway through the conference season:

1. (tie) Gophers 11-3-0 22 pts.

UMD 10-2-2 22

4. (tie) Colo. College 7-5-0 14

North Dakota 7-7-0 14

GAME OF DEFLECTIONS

Lucia was still talking about Friday's overtime loss the next night. "I thought last night's game should have been 0-0 going into overtime because all four goals went off somebody," he said. "Two went off their guys for us. It is just disappointing to leave a point on the table.

"When you lose in overtime it stinks. There is no point for getting into overtime [like in the NHL] or anything like that. We had a pretty stern meeting with the guys [Saturday] and I like the way they responded."