Feature: Gopher hockey runs into hot goalie and a great team in South Bend (The Athletic)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Solving Cale Morris and Notre Dame’s defense is easier said than done.

For most of its weekend series against the fourth-ranked Irish, Minnesota’s offense happily executed its game plan, sustaining pressure in the offensive end while the entire lineup put shots on goal.

Morris and company were up to the challenge, however, in a battle between the Big Ten’s best at Compton Family Ice Arena. He stopped 84 of 86 shots, not allowing an even-strength goal on the weekend, as then-No. 6 Minnesota lost 1-0 Friday and 5-2 Saturday, the difference between good and great on full display.

“It’s frustrating because we did some good things, and I’d say five of our six periods were pretty good,” Gophers head coach Don Lucia told The Athletic following Saturday’s defeat. “(Notre Dame)’s a good team. We didn’t do enough to give ourselves a chance to win.”

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Podcast: That Gopher Hockey Puckcast Episode 10

On this week's That Gopher Hockey Puckast, we hit double digits!

Nate, Drew and a slightly sick Tom mark the occasion by doing what they've done for nine other episodes: talk some Gopher hockey.

Topics this week include the pros and cons of college hockey travel, Notre Dame's campus, the Fighting Irish sweeping Minnesota, Cale Morris, Mike Szmatula, whether these are the two best teams in the Big Ten, getting rebounds and what was different, and much, much more. Plus we look ahead to Minnesota facing Wisconsin this weekend.

Those getting food advice from Michael Russo should directly download here.


As a reminder, if you subscribed to our old podcast, that feed will no longer work. You need to subscribe to the 'Cast In Gold feed wherever you listen to podcasts. Here it is on iTunes. While you're at it, please leave a review and give us five stars. It helps out the podcast.

Plugs and stuff

-Drew can be found on Twitter @covedrew and covers Minnesota men's hockey and football for the Minnesota Daily.

-Nate can be found here on this website and at The Athletic (as well as every other website if the various links here don't make clear). You can follow him on Twitter @gopherstate and like/subscribe to his Facebook page. He was there in South Bend this past weekend and wrote on Minnesota seeing a red-hot Notre Dame team.

Game Story: Mike Szmatula's 2 goals not enough for Minnesota to avoid a Notre Dame sweep (Zone Coverage)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Gophers will have to play catch-up in Big Ten conference play.

Winners of the past four conference regular season titles, Minnesota finds itself seven points behind first-year member Notre Dame with two more games played. (Big Ten games are worth three points apiece.) The latest comes after the first-place Fighting Irish (12-3-1, 6-0-0-0 Big Ten) swept the Gophers this weekend, most recently defeating Minnesota 5-2 Saturday at Compton Family Ice Arena.

Minnesota (9-6-1, 3-4-1-1 Big Ten) was within one goal for much of the game. Trailing from Notre Dame’s opening shot, the Fighting Irish were able to hold off the Gophers and put the game away in the final ten-plus minutes.

“We took some penalties in the third. We just didn’t have much pushback in the third,” said Minnesota head coach Don Lucia. “When they got the fourth one, it’s tough to come back. One, when it’s a one-shot game, you’re in it. We got a little too impatient and did some things we hadn’t been doing.”

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Pregame Blog: Minnesota-Notre Dame Saturday Line Combinations, Friday Notes, TV, Radio, Streaming & More

#6 Minnesota (9-5-1, 3-3-1-1 Big Ten) at #4 Notre Dame (11-3-1, 5-0-0-0 Big Ten)

Date: November 25, 2017
Time: 7:00 pm ET/6:00 pm CT
Place: Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Indiana
TV: None
Stream: NBC Sports (FREE)
Radio: Hot 102.5; 1130 KTLK-AM will join in progress (Wally Shaver and Frank Mazzocco)
Nate is covering for tonight: The Athletic/Zone Coverage/Wellsociated Press

Last night's recap: Gophers drop Notre Dame opener 1-0

Note: You can follow me on Twitter @gopherstate for live, in-person coverage.

Facebook Live: Minnesota-Notre Dame 11/24/17 Postgame

I went on Facebook Live to break down Minnesota's 1-0 loss and answer a couple questions. You can watch below.



As a reminder, you can Like/Subscribe my Facebook page by clicking the link here.

Game Story: Gophers drop Notre Dame opener 1-0 (Zone Coverage)

Photo credit: Nathan Wells

Above one of the goals, above the flags at Compton Family Ice Arena, the words “God, Country, Notre Dame” are painted in Celtic font.

If there is a Hockey God, in the words of Gopher senior forward Leon Bristedt, he was not on the visiting team’s side Friday night.

Minnesota could not get the puck past Notre Dame goaltender Cale Morris. The sophomore made a career-high 44 saves Friday night, shutting out the visiting Gophers 1-0 in a battle between the fourth and sixth-ranked teams in the nation.

“That’s the way hockey is some nights. Give the other team credit, they made some good blocks and defended well and had good stick positioning. If we did get a good look, the goaltender made the save,” said Minnesota head coach Don Lucia. “If you would have told me we would have given up one goal, I would have thought for sure that we would have won the game.”

Andrew Oglevie scored the game’s only goal 1:43 into the second period to help push Notre Dame’s winning streak to eight games. Coming on the power play, his shot bounced off Ryan Lindgren and floated past Eric Schierhorn into the back of the net.

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BLOG: Amy Potomak cut from Canadian Olympic team; Gophers celebrate Thanksgiving

Both Minnesota hockey teams are on the road this weekend. The Gopher men's team is in South Bend, Indiana while the Gopher women's team travels to Saint Charles, Missouri to face Lindenwood. However, they each spent Thanksgiving differently.

The men's team traveled Thursday and is celebrating Thanksgiving together in group bonding before facing #4 Notre Dame.

The women's team let everyone go home - or for those out of staters, to someone's house - to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families. Minnesota instead is flying out Friday morning.