Michigan State shuts down Gophers' offense, spoils Lucia's chance to pass Woog as program's all-time winningest coach, read Friday night's game story.
The Gophers enter their long weekend on yet another sour note.
They've been unable to complete a sweep after winning the first game in each of the past two series. A bad trend of giving up the first goal in the last four games has played a significant role in the struggle to put together back-to-back wins. Coach Don Lucia said his team is fortunate to be 2-2 during this stretch.
"We've played pretty good hockey, but all the sudden we've given up the first goal four straight games and in some ways you're lucky you come out 2-2 when you give up the first goal four straight times," Lucia said.
Senior captain Kyle Rau isn't happy about the trend.
"We came back [Thursday], but you can't continue to put yourself behind right off the bat."
Homecoming success: Defenseman John Draeger scored his first goal of the season for Michigan State on Friday night. The Fairbault, Minn., native and Wild draft pick plays an important role on the Spartans' back end, but doesn't score much. Coach Tom Anastos was happy to see the only Minnesotan on his roster do well in his homecoming.
"It was nice, especially at home," Anastos said. "It's his home state, he's a Minnesota [Wild] draft pick, he works his tail off every single day. It was nice to see him get one in."
