Lucia said Gophers were patient like they needed to be

Gophers coach Don Lucia said Saturday's 3-1 victory over Bowling Green was the type of game he expected.

"i've seen one of the CCHA assistants and I asked him how Bowling Green was. And he said, 'You have to stay patient because they are good defensively. They have good goaltending. And you might look at the clock halfway through the game and you might be outshooting them 2-1 and it's tied.' That is exactly the kind of game it was."

Actually, the Gophers were behind 1-0 after two periods despite outshooting the Falcons 30-14.

"We only gave up the one goal, we had 30 shots after two, but yet we were down by a goal," Lucia said. "It was just -- to keep playing for the whole 60 minutes and finding a way to win. Obviously Carman's goal was big on the power play off that rush, and getting the game-winner from Hoeffel. Alex made some timely saves. We found a way to win and that's the most important thing."

Mike Carman's goal was his fourth of the season. Mike Hoeffel scored his team-high ninth goal. And junior Alex Kangas stopped 22 of 23 shots, including nine in the third period.

Lucia said it is not easy to play against a trapping defense like the Falcons played. "What you don't want to do is turn the puck over and give them that 2-on-1," he said. "When we were down 1-0, we were OK. Just the way they were playing, you didn't want to get down by two. That would be a tall order, especially when the goaltender was playing well like he was."

Kangas played well, too, Lucia said, adding: "He made some really good saves when it was 1-1 and we were down 1-0. You have to have that. Goaltending is important."

"We feel good," Lucia said. "We haven't played in three weeks. We've won four in a row and five out of the last six. We won like we have to win. We are not going to be a team that scores five or six goals a night. We have to find a way to win 2-1, 3-2, whatever it is going to take. A lot of games will be tied or within a goal in the third period and you have to find a way to win."

Saturday, it was Carman, a senior moved to center on the first line, who got the Gophers rolling.

"Mike has started to play, in the last month or last couple weeks before the break, he has really started to play much better," Lucia said. "He has elevated his game, He is playing a lot more physical. And for Mike Carman, that;'s when he plays his best. He has got to play with a little bit of slash and dash and be noticeable with his skating. He did that [Saturday],"

Carman was taking the spot -- first line center -- normally held by Jordan Schroeder who was playing on the U.S. team in the World Junior Championships.

Was that hard for Carman? "We had to juggle everything [Saturday]," Lucia said. "We had guys from wing to center. We were juggling 11 forwards. We will have 12 back in the linep [Sunday] with Joey Miller in there. The [referees] said we had the one too many men on the ice penalty because guys were jumping up for the lines and the wrong guy went out. But I thought the guys did a pretty good job of adapting, especially the guys that were playing center one shift and wing another."

Lucia said Cepis, a transfer from Bowling Green, looked good in his first game. "Jacob, you saw what he is," Lucia said. "He can skate, he can make plays. He's got some dash to his game. He is not afraid of the physical contact.. He is going to help our team."

He was out with the second power play, too. "He is a power-play type player, he has skills," Lucia said. "For a year I have been watching him score in practice. Hopefully, [Sunday] he will score in a game. He is a really good college player. He is going to help us."

Lucia said the most important things for the Gophers to have a strong second half are: continued strong play in goal, improved special teams.

Kangas was sharp on Saturday, the power play was 1-for-3 and the penalty kill held Bowling Green scoreless in five chances. Mission accomplished.

Another win Sunday over former WCHA member Northern Michigan would put the Gophers above .500 for the first time this season.

Bowling Green came to Mariucci on a seven-game winless streak (0-6-1). But this team was not a pushover. Two of those losses were in overtime, 2-1 to Notre Dame and 3-2 to Michigan State. The tie was 4-4 with the Irish. The Falcons actually won the shootout because the CCHA has them. But for NCAA purposes, the game is considered a tie.