Pregame: Boyd banged up, out of lineup as series returns to Mariucci Arena

The Gophers will be without one of their hottest scorers for Saturday's finale with St. Cloud State and possibly longer. Senior center Travis Boyd is out with a lower-body injury after being banged up late in Friday's 4-1 loss in St. Cloud.

Boyd was part of the Gophers' penalty kill during a 5-on-3 disadvantage in the third period and took a hard shot to his body moments before the Huskies scored on the power play. Boyd was slow to get up and returned to the bench hunched over.

Coach Don Lucia said Boyd could be sidelined "for a while," which could mean at least a couple weeks.

Sophomore Vinni Lettieri slides into the center position on the third line with Connor Reilly at left wing and Seth Ambroz at right wing.

Freshman forward Robin Hoglund fills Boyd's spot in the lineup and will skate on the fourth line.

The Gophers have given up nine goals over the last three games after the four they gave up on Saturday. Last year's defensive core only gave up one goal to St. Cloud State in two meetings. An overload of penalties has led to the opponents' surge of offense. Expect the Gophers to play more disciplined on Saturday night.

"I guess things are getting a little tough and we're just taking the shortcuts right now," Ambroz said about the penalty problems on Friday night. "It's nothing we can't adjust and that's what we're going to have to do before tomorrow."

My feature this week takes a look at this year's alternate captains Seth Ambroz and Ben Marshall and their lighthearted personalities. Also check out details and video from Wednesday's access where Lucia said his team was "Too easy to play against."

• SERIES PREVIEW: NO. 1 GOPHERS VS. NO. 7 ST. CLOUD STATE

4 p.m. Saturday at Mariucci Arena.

TV/radio/live stream: FSN; 1500-AM; BTN2Go.

Gophers at a glance: The Gophers (4-1) are too easy to play against, coach Don Lucia said leading up to his team's first true road test in St. Cloud on Friday night. Junior defenseman Brady Skjei agreed and pointed out several big mistakes that allowed Bemidji State to keep pace last weekend. No. 7 St. Cloud State exposed these problems in Friday night's 4-1 victory over the No. 1 Gophers and will play for the sweep Saturday.

• Gophers Saturday lines
Forwards (left wing, center, right wing)
Leon Bristed, Kyle Rau, Hudson Fasching
Sam Warning, Justin Kloos, Taylor Cammarata
Connor Reilly, Vinnie Lettieri, Seth Ambroz
Robin Hoglund, A.J. Michaelson, Christian Isackson

Defensemen (left, right)
Brady Skjei, Ryan Collins
Steve Johnson, Mike Reilly
Ben Marshall, Michael Brodzinski

Goaltenders
Adam Wilcox, Nick Lehr, Ryan Coyne