The Fighting Sioux were dominating in all zones of the ice last night as they outshot the Gophers 43-22 and shutout the Gophers 4-0. Brad Eidsness got his second shutout of his college hockey career. The Sioux defense beat the Gophers to the puck all night they were able to limit quality shots on net, and the Gophers did get a shot on net Eidsness was sharp in goal for the Fighting Sioux. After struggling on the power play the weekend before the Sioux scored two power play goals and a shorthanded goal.
The Fighting Sioux played a stifling defense all game and when Joe Gleason received a five minute major for checking from behind with about four minutes to go in the game the Sioux held the Gophers to no shots on net while the Sioux managed to put two shot on net.
The Sioux have put together a pretty impressive run against the Gophers as of late as they are now 9-2-1 in the last 12 games against the Golden Gophers. According to the Grand Forks Herald UND is 27-4-4 at home since 2008. The Sioux are also unbeaten in 15 games at the Ralph that is a 13-0-2 record.
Props to Golden Gopher goalie Alex Kangas: as Charles mentioned in the comments section, you can't blame junior Goalie Alex Kangas for the Gophers loss, the goalie doesn’t check or cycle the puck out of the defensive zone. In this game the Gopher defenders need to take ownership for their non support in the game, they also looked like a bunch of pylons. Incidentally, Alex Kangas is 1-4-1 for his career against the Fighting Sioux and the Score could have been 6-0 or 7-0 is Kangas hadn't have held the fort down for the Gophers.
Some profounds words from Golden Gopher Coach Don Luica.
"You've got to score some goals to get some momentum," Lucia said.
And to score goals a team needs the puck: North Dakota usually had it. The Sioux won the faceoff battle, 42-26.
"If you don't start with the puck, it seems like you are chasing it all night," Lucia said. [Red Star and Sickle]
[Box Score]
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1st Period (20:00)
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MIN-1 Seth Helgeson (2-Hooking) NDK 1x1 1:30
NDK 1 - 0 6x5 PP GW LL Jason Gregoire (2) (Chris VandeVelde, David Toews) 2:17
NDK: 17,29,18,7,5,G31 MIN: 9,3,12,10,G33
NDK-1 Brett Bruneteau (2-Interference) MIN 0x1 4:24
MIN-2 Jake Hansen (2-Checking from Behind) NDK 1x2 10:31
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2nd Period (20:00)
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NDK-2 Andrew MacWilliam (2-Tripping) MIN 0x2 3:20
NDK 2 - 0 5x6 SH Derrick LaPoint (1) (Evan Trupp, Brad Malone) 4:21
NDK (+): 3,19,22,25,G31 MIN (-): 12,13,3,10,16,G33
NDK-3 David Toews (2-Tripping) MIN 0x3 9:03
MIN-3 David Fischer (2-Hooking) NDK 1x3 11:15
MIN-4 Sam Lofquist (2-Roughing) 12:49
NDK-4 Brett Hextall (2-Roughing) 12:49
MIN-5 Ryan Flynn (2-Roughing) 15:09
NDK-5 Ben Blood (2-HITTING AFTER WHISTLE) 15:09
MIN-6 David Fischer (2-Cross-Checking) NDK 1x4 17:19
NDK-6 Brett Hextall (2-Interference) MIN 0x4 18:44
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3rd Period (20:00)
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MIN-7 Zach Budish (2-Cross-Checking) NDK 1x5 3:47
MIN-8 Ryan Flynn (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 4:26
NDK-7 Brett Hextall (2-Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 4:26
MIN-9 Tony Lucia (2-Tripping) NDK 2x6 5:30
NDK 3 - 0 6x5 PP Chay Genoway (1) (Evan Trupp, Joe Gleason) 5:56
NDK: 5,19,20,22,18,G31 MIN: 11,19,28,24,G33
NDK 4 - 0 6x6 Mario Lamoureux (1) (Darcy Zajac, Carter Rowney) 8:18
NDK (+): 9,11,27,24,5,G31 MIN (-): 28,19,26,11,4,G33
NDK-8 Joe Gleason (5-Checking from Behind) MIN 0x5 15:57
NDK-9 Joe Gleason (10-Game Misconduct) (Served by Michael Cichy) 15:57
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End of Game
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Solid Game By Sioux & Kangas. The rest of the Gophers looked like statues; bad statues...
ReplyDeleteI won't be watching a lot of Gopher hockey this year if that is all the harder they'll work.
At least Hextall didn't score :-}
ReplyDeleteKangas with 39 saves all on his own deserves some props after the morons skating in front of him let in 4 goals.
ReplyDeleteLast night was the 1st time I've watched college hockey in a long time. I didn't realize how much slower the game was, yet at the same time, the UND hockey team seemed to be playing a squirt team! lol
ReplyDeleteI laughed a lot at Wild Wings last night, as I had a few buddies with me that all have season tickets to the Blues here in STL. We also had them put up a few NHL games on the tvs as well, just to compare the speed. Because we all thought no way could the Gophers be THAT BAD!?!?
But sure enough, they were that bad.. Hopefully, the gophers continue to put on a disappointing show tonight, as the cute bartender (Erik Johnson fan, which is why she was rooting for the gophs) made a bet with me tonight, saying they'll come back to beat them as she's somewhat of a Blues fan. After we made the bet, I told her TJ Oshie used to play for UND, and she got totally pissed, that she bet against his team! lol never let a cute bartender know all the facts! (It's a great way to get your wings, rings, and beer paid for!)
Fascinating glimpse into your Friday night, Brett. ...Hopefully you got all of that onto your facebook page too. You should probably take up twittering key stuff like that as it happens for all of us.
ReplyDeleteBrettB I always laugh at the people that tell me college is a better game than the pros, most of the college players would ever be able to skate with the NHL. I saw Matt Greene skate this summer his skating has improved a lot since his college hockey days.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong I love UND hockey. Just saying I remember going to a game in Winnipeg and then coming back to watch UND and MTU this was in like 1995 and I remember how much slower the college game is. I have a smile from ear to ear today.