Lucia on split with UAA: "We played six really good periods"

The lead-in to Don Lucia's weekly radio show on WCCO-radio on Monday had to sting loyal fans a bit.

Wally Shaver, the voice of the Gophers was describing a Jay Barriball goal and then Glen Sonmor, the color analyst, chips in: "That's what we need -- that first goal."

Not sure what Gophers game that was from, but it certainly wasn't from this weekend. Barriball, the Gophers senior captain, was scoreless as was everybody on the first line. And nobody in maroon and gold scored on Saturday, so their was no first goal. Alaska Anchorage beat the Gophers 1-0.

Lucia seemed surprisingly upbeat about the split.

"I really thought we played six really good periods of hockey," he said. "I felt that way after the game on Saturday even though we lost 1-0, which was disappointing."

He said he and his staff looked at video from Saturday's game together on Monday morning and then showed clips to the team before practice that afternoon.

"After watching the video I even felt better," Lucia said. "We certainly had a lot of good chances. We didn't give up much of anything, especially through two periods. We had a lot of goal-mouth scrambles. [Freshman forward Nate] Condon went in all-alone. We had some point-blank [shots]. We had some tips.

The Gophers outshot UAA 30-22, and attempted 74 shots to the Seawolves' 49. Barriball and Hansen had the most shots on net, four apiece.

"Give Anchorage credit for how they played Saturday," Lucia said. "We knew they were going to play a tigher game than what they did Friday. Friday's game was really up and down. Kinda like maybe the old-time hockey where there are some odd-man rushes going back and forth which is a little bit more entertaining for the fans.

"But they made a decision on Saturday that they were going to keep three and four guys back all night long. And I thought we adjusted to that pretty well. Attacked the blue line with speed and got pucks behind them and generated some offense and went low to high to our points. We had some traffic, we had deflections. We just couldn't get that goal."

Just before UAA scored early in the third period, Hansen deflected a puck just wide of the left post.

"I really felt that if we could have had the first goal, we would have forced them maybe to open up the game a little bit which would have been a little bit more to our advantage. As long as it was 0-0, and then they got that one goal, they didn't have to.

UAA has earned at least one point in eight of 10 WCHA series. Only UMD in the opening conference series and Denver, the weekend before UAA came to Mariucci, has swept the Seawolves

"I was upbeat with our kids [Monday]," Lucia said. "I told them, 'You keep playing like that and good things will happen.' "

The Gophers had 48 shots on Friday, 30 on Saturday against a team which gives up an average of 25.

'What we could have used is a power play on Saturday," Lucia said. "We only had one full power play and that was in the first period. We could have had a few more when I watched the video. ... That might have opened up things for us, too."

There were a couple of plays in the third period the referees could have whistled UAA for penalties, but didn't.

"We did so many good things defensively," Lucia said. "And watching our defensemen's improvement this year -- they have grown as much as anybody. And even our team defense, how much that has improved during the course of this season from where we were in October and early November to where we are today, it is like two completely different teams.

"And now we just have to find a way to consistently generate some offense. We did on Friday, but you have to try to do it game in and game out. The frustrating thing is losing and only giving up one goal."

Trouble is, time is runnnig our for offensive adjustments. The Gophers have only 10 regular-season games left.

"The guys are paying attention," Lucia said. "They are in the right spots now. We are not giving up the odd-man rushes. We are digging in front of our net. We had a couple of great clips of our defensemen boxing out in our video [Monday]. Early in the year, we were giving up some rebound goals because we were not getting sticks up and boxing out. In that part of the game, we have really made progress.

"I thought our penalty killing was good all weekend long. We did give up the one, but that was because Kent [goalie Kent Patterson] couldn't find the puck when he thought he had it and the guy just wrapped it around.

THE DON SAYS

* On Alaska Anchorage's defense around their freshman goalie Chris Kamal on Saturday: "They did a good job in front of their net. They blocked a lot of shots." ... UAA blocked 17 shots, the Gophers 23.

* On who is playing well: "Without question Jake Hansen is playing his best hockey as a Gopher right now. He is playing with speed. He is scoring. He is attacking. I really thought the [Nick] Bjugstad and [Jacob] Cepis and Jake Hansen line was really good all weekend long."

* On scoring woes: "[We're] like any team. Your leading scorers have to score on a consistent basis. This weekend they didn't score and we are going to need that heading into Duluth."

* On UMD's new Amsoil arena: "I have heard nothing but great things about the new facility. ,,, It was long overdue. It was needed up in Duluth and it is great for the whole northeastern Minnesota region. But it does take a while to readjust to the new facility and they are probably going through it a little bit right now. And hopefully one more weekend."

* On his top concern with UMD: "Their top-end players with the two [Jack and Mike] Connollys and [Justin] Fontaine. [Defenseman] Justin Faulk has a really good shot on the power play and the back line. Worry No. 1 is their power play. We did a pretty good job against them down here. We have to be disciplined. We can't be in the box a lot. ... They have some small guys that can really get around the rink."

Jack Connolly (12 goals-23 assists-35 points) is tied for second in scoring in the WCHA, Justin Fontaine (15-18-33) is fourth and Mike (no relation to Jack) Connolly (13-16-29) is 10th. They play on UMD's top line. Freshman J.T. Brown, another forward, is also having a good season (7-14-21). He played at Rosemount High School.

* On the Gophers' team identity: "As a team, we have to rally around our goaltender. We have to play well defensively like we have been and find a way to score some goals. And if we do that, we will have a chance."

* On UMD's success: "We have great respect for where UMD is at. It is much deserved right now. And they have some top-end players. We have to do our best to limit their offense."

The Bulldogs are rated No. 4 by uscho.com and also are No. 4 in the PairWise ratings, which mimic the system the NCAA uses to fill its 16-team postseason field. UMD is 17-5-3 overall, and 12-4-2 in the WCHA for third place with 26 points, one behind Denver and two behind first place North Dakota.