Rau rattles the pipes in Gophers' win Saturday

Freshman Kyle Rau of the Gophers scored his 11th goal of the season on Saturday and it was his fifth game-winner.

It came late in the first period and gave the U of M a 3-0 lead against Minnesota State. The maroon and gold eventually won 3-2. But the play by Rau that generated the most buzz was a non-goal four minutes into the second period.

Rau's shot hit somewhere low on the right post, flew into the air and hit high on the left post. At that point, Mavericks reached behind him with his glove and knocked the puck away out of the air. Amazing. How did the puck stay out of the net?

At the next stoppage of play, the referees reviewed the play to make sure it was not a goal.

Officially, he had three shots on net and was a plus-1. Rau also was called for two of the Gophers' 13 penalties, both in the third period. One was for roughing, the other for embellishment. Apparently, the referees thought he was trying too hard to convince them they should call a penalty when he either got cross-checked or hooked.

Not sure which because the Mavericks were called for both those penalties at the same time.

THREE STARS

1) First star. Gophers captain Taylor Matson. He scored his team's second goal and had an assist on the first. He had one shot on goal, was a plus-1 and won six of 13 faceoffs. He also did well on penalty kills.

2) Second star. Sophomore center Zach Lehrke. He had both of the Mavericks' goals, both on power plays. One was scored in the second period, the other in the third. He had four shots on goal, but was a minus-1. Also committed an unsportsmanlike penalty in the first minute of the game, which led to a Gophers power-play goal.