Senior Jake Hansen, an assistant captain for the Gophers, was protective of goalie Kent Patterson after the Gophers' 4-1 loss to Wisconsin on Friday. Patterson was taken out after two periods after giving up all four of the Badgers' goal on 15 shots.
"The kid has started every game this whole year, played every minute up until then," Hansen said. "And most of the year last year. That [the goalie switch] was a little strange."
Sophomore Mike Shibrowski replaced Patterson and stopped five shots in the third period.
"That one is not on Kent, it's on us," Hansen said, referring to the loss. "We played sloppy D. Our forwards were awful. We let Kent hang out to dry and we lost. Plain and simple."
Gophers coach Don Lucia was not critical of Patterson either. "It wasn't his fault," he said.
The one-sided score led to Lucia to change goalies. "It was 4-0 after two," he said. "Ok, let's get Shibby in there tonight."
Lucia said he did not ask Patterson how he felt about coming out. "That part of it is irrelevant," Lucia said. "At that point in time you are thinking big picture. It's 4-0 and the chance that you are going to come back are slim. You know what? Get a little bit of rest, and get ready to go [Saturday]."
Count on Patterson being back in the nets for the second game of this series.
