Lucia said UMD is loaded with high-end forwards

Minnesota Duluth edged the Gophers 2-1 in the play-in game of th Final Five last season and, as it turned out, that lost cost the U a spot in the 16-team NCAA field.

The Gophers missed making the national tournament for the first time in nine years bt a whisker, so did Wisconsin.

So there is a grudge to settle, right? "What happened last year really has zero bearing on this year," Gophers coach Don Lucia said. "There is not any revenge factor or anything like that when you go from year to year. We have great respect for them and they've got some real high-end forwards.

"Our penalty kill is going to be real important, our team discipline is going to be real important because you look they have 22 power-play goals in 12 games, You don't want to give them six, eight cracks at it a night or they are going to score. If we can keep it to three, four opportunities a night, that is going to go a long way in helping us."

The big difference in the look of this UMD team is in the nets. Junior Alex Stalock turned pro rather than come back for his senior year.

"They still have two good goalies that have played well for them," Lucia said. "They've got some high-end forwards with the Connollys and Fontaines that were big scorers last year and have certainly gotten off to outstanding starts this year. They got that high-end skill that a lot of teams don't have right now."

Lucia said against the Bulldogs, the Gophers can not make as many turnovers as they have in recent games.

LINES TAKING SHAPE

The Gophers' top two lines have stayed the same the past two games and in practice this week.

"We are starting to like some of the combinations right now," Lucia said. "I am happy that some guys scored their first goals this past weekend. I am hoping that is going to help them. We are staritng to score some goals."

Sophomore center Jordan Schroeder was one of the players scoring his first goal, then his second. He had a power-play goal each night as the Gophers split with the Beavers, winning 4-1, then losing 6-2. Mike Carman also had his first goal on Saturiday, while Jake Hansen had his first on Sunday.

"Defensively, for the most part, we had breakdowns Sunday but that been pretty consistently strong as well," Lucia said. "When I look at our team right now, our power play is getting better, our penalty kill has been improving over the last half dozen games, so we have some areas that are tracking in the right direction.

Schroeder was called for cross-checking at 20 minutes of the second period. BSU scored on both power plays.

"We are not a good enough team to overcome some of the mental mistakes like that, and lack of discipline and turning pucks over. As a group of forwards, we are getting better. I see things when I look at the video that we weren't doing early in the season that are generating some chances.

"And even in the game on Sunday, we left some plays on the table where we had good scoring chances when the game was 0-0 or 2-1 that could have got us back in the game. We couldn't quite finish. We just have to bare down a little better around the net."

THE DON'S THOUGHTS

* On Budish, the freshman forward from Edina: "He had a really good weekend against Wisconsin, I am not sure he played quite as well this past weekend [vs. BSU]. But that's more the expectation with freshman. The learning curve is going to be a little up, then back down. But you hope the general trend is upward overall. We have seen that with him this year.

* On Schroeder's slow start as a goal-scorer: "He just got off to a -- the first four games, like our whole team, nobody was scoring. Since that time, he's been over a point a game and that's what he was a year ago at that time. It's like anything. Jordan is only 19 years old. He's not a 21-year-old freshman. He's young. Sometimes we put too much burden and expectation on somebody when he is only 19 years old of age.

"Jordan is going to score his fair share. But it is not just Jordan that"s going to be important. It is everybody chipping in. That's the type of team we are going to have to have this year."