#9 Clarkson (4-2-1, 0-0-0 ECAC) at #7 Minnesota (4-3-0, 1-1-0-0 Big Ten)
Date: October 28, 2017Time: 7:00 pm CT
Place: 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, MN
TV: Fox Sports North Plus (AVAILABLE in Twin Cities)
Stream: BTN2Go/Fox Sports Go
Radio: 1130 KTLK-AM (Wally Shaver and Frank Mazzocco)
Nate is covering for tonight: Zone Coverage
Friday night's recap: Gopher Hockey Freshmen Return; Lead Minnesota Over #9 Clarkson
Coming into the weekend the Gophers had struggled in the discipline department. Three times in the first six games the team was called for a five minute major/game misconduct. Last season it took until December for Minnesota's first. Taking away the majors, the team averaged 5.5 times per game spent on the penalty kill.
On Friday the Gophers took one penalty against Clarkson.
"Discipline was good tonight than with what we were doing in the past," head coach Don Lucia said. "Hopefully that will continue. We just can't play as much shorthanded as we did last weekend. It's certainly not a recipe for success."
Not playing shorthanded meant Minnesota could get into a better flow offensively. That was something the team struggled with against North Dakota.
"It's not easy killing when you're spending almost periods at a time on the kill. Not only do you not get opportunities or momentum, but you get tired and only play a certain amount of guys," said Brent Gates Jr.
Staying disciplined paid off Friday in the third period when the Gophers scored twice in a three minute span. The latter came from Gates on the power play, which snapped a 0-14 drought for Minnesota spanning nearly three games.
"I still think we can do so much better. I think we're just finding the right combinations and implementing different plays," said Rem Pitlick. "We have so much skill. When you have a lot of skill on the team guys are going to make plays and guys are going to finish. It's just getting a little bit more comfortable and getting more confidence. It's only been seven games so we still have some time to learn."
The other thing with special teams is that issues with taking penalties are not limited to the Gophers. Clarkson entered Friday having averaged 6 PKs per game. The Golden Knights "dropped" to 5.86, which is still the fourth-most nationally among non-Ivy teams. (All six Ivy league teams began play Friday.)
Line Combinations:
Minnesota reboots the RPM line and Nate Knoepke gets to make his maroon and gold debut.Sam Rossini also gets in for Minnesota. Ryan Norman and Jack Glover sit Saturday.
Casey Mittelstadt's experiment on the wing lasted less than a game before the freshman was moved back to center. Lucia said after Friday's game he wanted to lessen the 2017 first round NHL Draft pick's responsibilities in his return, but it became aparent quickly there was no worry.
The Gophers also tried to spread its size around different lines Friday towards the end of the game.
For Clarkson, the only two changes are Grant Cooper and John Schneider being out and John Carter MacLean and Tyko Karjalainen in for the Golden Knights.
University of Minnesota Golden Gophers
ForwardsLeon Bristedt (#18) - Tommy Novak (#17) - - Tyler Sheehy (#22)
Rem Pitlick (#15) - Casey Mittelstadt (#21) - Scott Reedy (#19)
Brent Gates Jr. (#10) - Mike Szmatula (#9) - Brannon McManus (#7)
Darian Romanko (#26) - Jack Ramsey (#16)
Defense
Steve Johnson (#4) - Jack Sadek (#2)
Ryan Lindgren (#5) - Ryan Zuhlsdorf (#20)
Sam Rossini (#28) - Tyler Nanne (#29)
Nate Knoepke (#24)
Goaltenders
Eric Schierhorn (#37)
Brock Kautz (#1)
Nick Lehr (#34)
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