Gophers hope to continue dominance over Minnesota State

In the past, a pair of games with Minnesota State that came after playing a home-and-home with St. Cloud State and two games at Wisconsin would seem like a reprieve in the schedule. However, that likely isn’t going to be the case this weekend for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, as they play a modified home-and-home series with the Mavericks.

The first game of the series will come at 7 p.m. on Friday at Mariucci Arena. However, the second game of the series will take place on Saturday night at 7:30 as the second game of the first State of Minnesota Hockey Showcase at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The first game of the even will featured Minnesota Duluth “hosting” St. Cloud State.

Of course this isn’t the first time that Minnesota State has made the choice to forfeit home-ice advantage in a game that should have been at the Alltel Center in Mankato in favor of playing the game at the Xcel Energy Center. During the 2004-05 season, Minnesota won a 9-6 shootout at the “X” thanks in large part to a Danny Irmen hat trick.

More fans will likely be harkening back to last March though, when these two teams took part in arguably the most exciting and entertaining first round playoff series in the history of the WCHA. After losing the first game 1-0 in double overtime, the Gophers were of course able to storm back to win the second game in the first overtime and then topping the Mavs in double overtime on Saturday to secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament (and essentially knocking MSU out of the big dance) and also advancing to the WCHA Final Five.

So, as if the Mavericks needed any more motivation in going against their main in-state rival, they will certainly have last March’s series in the back of their minds. Nearly all the MSU players that were on the ice for those games return this season, which is a big reason why many think that head coach Troy Jutting can lead his team to a finish that’s on par – or better – with last year’s solid season.

Minnesota State enters the game with a 3-1 record, having swept Bemidji State in Mankato to open the season, and then splitting with North Dakota the following weekend at the Alltel Center. Six of their eight leading scorers heading into this weekend are upperclassmen, as the Mavs are one of the older teams in the WCHA. In theory, they should be able to use their size more in Saturday’s game on the NHL-sized rink at the Xcel Energy Center more than that could be an advantage on the Olympic-sized ice sheet at Mariucci.

Perhaps their most important upperclassmen won’t be scoring many goals this season though. Senior goalie Mike Zacharias had great stats last season (.924 save percentage and a 2.08 goals against average) and there’s no reason to think with a veteran team in front of him that he won’t again be one of the better WCHA goalies as this season rolls on.

As previously noted, despite their recent upturn in the standings on an annual basis, the Mavericks have not been able to figure out how to beat the Gophers. They lost four of five games against Minnesota last season, and prior to last season the Maroon and Gold had dropped just one of their previous 17 games versus their neighbors to the south.

For Minnesota to continue their success against the Mavs, it will likely start in goal with Alex Kangas, who is picking up right where he left off last season in going 3-0-1 with a 1.72 goals against average and a .936 save percentage.

The defense in front of the super sophomore has been very solid, though a couple of upperclassmen – senior R.J. Anderson and junior David Fischer – certainly haven’t play their best hockey of the season but considering where the team is right now that’s a great sign for things to come. Freshman Aaron Ness has arguably been their best defender, so hopefully his smallish frame can hold up as the season moves on.

Up front, junior Ryan Stoa has been a force. Paired with freshman Jordan Schroeder and junior Jay Barriball, that line has posted a consistent offensive thread and has a great mix of side, speed and skill.

The same thing could be said for the Tony Lucia – Mike Carman – Ryan Flynn line. Those six players are the team’s top six scorers as well, so they are certainly producing on the scoresheet.

The fourth line of Jake Hansen, Taylor Matson, and Justin Bostrom has been very solid on both ends of the ice, but the third line of Mike Hoeffel, Patrick White, and Nico Sacchetti has yet to really get things going offensively. The talent is certainly there though, and for a third line there is some serious talent there in the form of a first (White), second (Hoeffel), and third (Hansen) round NHL draft picks.

Both games will air live on Fox Sports North this weekend, though the SCSU / UMD matchup will not be aired prior to the Gophers / Mavericks contest.