Helgeson just wanted to contribute on Saturday -- goal was extra

Here I am, stuck in Grand Forks, N.D., for a third day on Sunday -- and I couldn't be happier.

Not too much tops the third game of a WCHA first-round series where one team, the Gophers, is facing the end of its season with a loss, and the other, North Dakota, has a chance at one of the four No. 1 regional seeds in the NCAA and wants to win for its rabid fans at the Ralph.

Here are comments from the Gophers after their 4-2 victory over the Sioux on Saturday, squaring the series at 1-1:

Freshman defenseman Seth Helgeson on his winning goal: Gophers center Nico Sacchetti wins the draw in the left circle, sends puck behind him to an open spot on the ice.

"I just saw the puck there," the 6-5, 220-pound Helgeson said. "Everybody was coming towards it, cause it was an open puck. Their guys were crashing towards the puck, so I just went after it. [Kevin] Wehrs let me shoot. He was going to come in and shoot. I just went for it and shot it. I didn't even know it went in. But it went in and that was that."

The goal, Helgeson's first as a Gopher was the game-winner. It came with 7 minutes left to play.

Gophers coach told Helgeson he wasn't playing in Friday night's game that morning.

He said it was hard to watch on Friday, especially as the Sioux piled up the goals. "It looked like we were a little out of place out there," Helgeson said. "It's tough but we came in here [Saturday] ready to play. We talked a lot about [Saturday's] game and I think we made a statement that we are here to play."

Helgeson said the Gophers watched video of Friday's game on Saturday and that was really important. "There was some stuff that obviously nobody wanted to see," he said. "Obviously, we are going to make mistakes. And Friday night was just that night where there were a lot of mistakes. Everybody pretty much knew they needed to step it up. And everybody did.

And then there was Helgeson, a healthy scratch on Friday. "I was rested. I didn't play Friday. I felt I had to come in there and stir some stuff up. Try to get some momentum toward our side," Helgeson said.

He said the coaches were happy after Saturday's win. "We had a couple bulletin points that we wanted to make," Helgeson said. "What we wanted to do in [Saturday's] game: Make plays, play physical, faceoff intensity. And I think we did everything [Saturday] that well."

Helgeson said his teammates have teased him a bit about not having a single point this season. "But coming into this year I knew that scoring goals and putting up points was just -- it wasn't what I was coming in to do," Helgeson said. "i knew I was going to be a role player. Obviously, the points didn't come. Obviously, they did tonight. But I wanted to come in and do something for the team. Playing physical and all that.

At this point, the Gophers sports information director Jim Strick interrupted the interview and said goalie Alex Kangas almost beat Helgeson to scoring a point this season. Kangas had an assist on the Gophers' empy net goal at the end of the game.

Helgeson had a quick reply: "Ay, I had a point against CC, you would think they would count it. I'm a little mad about that."

He was joking.

And then he turned serious again. Asked about Sunday's game, Helgeson said, "We will be ready. We made a bold statement [Saturday] winning in this arena. ... We are going to come in [Sunday] and we are going to take it to them, we are going to take it away."

Helgeson and Brett Hextall, one of the Sioux's tougher guys, got in a scuffle two-thirds into the second period. Both got two minutes for roughing but Helgeson appeared to do most of the damage.

"You could feel the noise in the walls [on Friday] and that's the first time I ever felt that," said Scott Polley, the custodial manage for the Ralph. "And that was prior to the game starting. That was just the excitement just building up to the rivalry."

Regulars at Sioux home games have said the building was it's loudest for the 2006 West Regional. In the first game on March 24, Holy Cross upset the Gophers, the No. 1 seed in the whole field, 4-3 in overtime and then the Sioux beat Michigan 5-1 in the second game.

On Friday, the walls at the Ralph were vibrating, Polley said. "That the loudest I've heard it," he said. "Being here [for the 2006 Regional] during the Holy Cross game and the Michigan game, I've never heard this building that loud.