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| Ralph Engelstad Arena (Photo: Nathan Wells) |
#8 Minnesota (3-2-0, 1-1-0-0 Big Ten) at #4 North Dakota (3-1-1, 0-0-0-0 NCHC)
Date: October 21, 2017Time: 7:00 pm CT
Place: Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, ND
TV: Midco SN where available (not available in Twin Cities)
Stream: NCHC.TV ($$$)
Radio: 1130 KTLK-AM (Wally Shaver and Frank Mazzocco)
Nate is covering for tonight: Zone Coverage and The Athletic Minnesota
Pregame reading: "On the long road to the NHL, Casey Mittelstadt stands out" by Eric Vegoe and "Chilling tales from old rink lore add color to Minnesota-North Dakota" by Jess Myers, both over at The Athletic (subscription required)
Pregame listening: That Gopher Hockey Puckcast Episodes 2 & 3
Friday's game story: Schierhorn stops 34 in 2-1 Gophers win
The decision Friday to play Tyler Sheehy came from Tyler Sheehy.
Minnesota's captain returned to the Gopher lineup after missing both games against Penn State. The Gophers had an extra skater in Sam Rossini skate warmups, but Sheehy felt he could play and did.
"(Sheehy) skated Wednesday and felt good. Then he skated Thursday and still felt really good after practice," said head coach Don Lucia after Friday's 2-1 win. "At that point we felt - he made the call - but he said he felt really good."
Sheehy played on a line with Rem Pitlick and Casey Mittelstadt, helping start Minnesota's opening goal. He also took 10 faceoffs Friday night in an attempt to give the Gophers a righthanded draw. (All four of Minnesota centers shoot left.) Lucia thought he did a good job.
In other injury news, Scott Reedy missed his second consecutive game Friday. He did make the trip to Grand Forks after practicing Wednesday, however, Reedy will not play Saturday either.
From a possession standpoint, the Gophers were heavily outchanced by North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks finished with 78 attempts to Minnesota's 33 with nearly half (15) coming in the first period. Despite winning, Minnesota's players nearly blocked as many shots (29) as attempted.
The blocked shots and selling out were points of emphasis from the coaches. However, the lack of shots were not.
Some of it might have been nerves from being in a new environment, Lucia said.
"Hopefully we'll play a little freer, more relaxed. We have to do a better job of puck support coming up the rink," Lucia added. "I thought we left too many guys up on an island so we have to do a much better job sliding and moving the puck."
Rem Pitlick believes staying out of the box and not having as many penalties called on Minnesota is a must.
"That was kind of a joke. We were all a little upset about that," he said. "If we are rolling four lines and don't have that penalty issue I think we won't have that issue."
Minnesota was called for eight penalties and gave North Dakota six power plays that curtailed the flow of play at times. Five of the last six power plays went to the Fighting Hawks.
"There was a lot of calls made against us that I don't think they were exactly calling both ways, but that's hockey. That happens. We got to play through it. We did. We won," said Pitlick. "Like I said, we're going to come back ready tomorrow and whatever's thrown at us we're going to battle through adversity and bring it."
Steve Johnson had not scored in 48 games prior to his third period goal. His drought - stretching back to February 25th, 2016 against Michigan - was the longest on the team. Johnson had 9 more goalless games than Ryan Zuhlsdorf and over time was a week longer than Jack Glover.
"It's obviously been a while," Johnson said. "Whenever you can jump into the play like I did there you have to take advantage of it. It was a great pass from Rem and I just tried to get it through. Luckily it did."
The decision Friday to play Tyler Sheehy came from Tyler Sheehy.
Minnesota's captain returned to the Gopher lineup after missing both games against Penn State. The Gophers had an extra skater in Sam Rossini skate warmups, but Sheehy felt he could play and did.
"(Sheehy) skated Wednesday and felt good. Then he skated Thursday and still felt really good after practice," said head coach Don Lucia after Friday's 2-1 win. "At that point we felt - he made the call - but he said he felt really good."
Sheehy played on a line with Rem Pitlick and Casey Mittelstadt, helping start Minnesota's opening goal. He also took 10 faceoffs Friday night in an attempt to give the Gophers a righthanded draw. (All four of Minnesota centers shoot left.) Lucia thought he did a good job.
In other injury news, Scott Reedy missed his second consecutive game Friday. He did make the trip to Grand Forks after practicing Wednesday, however, Reedy will not play Saturday either.
Shot attempts
From a possession standpoint, the Gophers were heavily outchanced by North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks finished with 78 attempts to Minnesota's 33 with nearly half (15) coming in the first period. Despite winning, Minnesota's players nearly blocked as many shots (29) as attempted.
The blocked shots and selling out were points of emphasis from the coaches. However, the lack of shots were not.
Some of it might have been nerves from being in a new environment, Lucia said.
"Hopefully we'll play a little freer, more relaxed. We have to do a better job of puck support coming up the rink," Lucia added. "I thought we left too many guys up on an island so we have to do a much better job sliding and moving the puck."
Rem Pitlick believes staying out of the box and not having as many penalties called on Minnesota is a must.
"That was kind of a joke. We were all a little upset about that," he said. "If we are rolling four lines and don't have that penalty issue I think we won't have that issue."
Minnesota was called for eight penalties and gave North Dakota six power plays that curtailed the flow of play at times. Five of the last six power plays went to the Fighting Hawks.
"There was a lot of calls made against us that I don't think they were exactly calling both ways, but that's hockey. That happens. We got to play through it. We did. We won," said Pitlick. "Like I said, we're going to come back ready tomorrow and whatever's thrown at us we're going to battle through adversity and bring it."
Johnson's goal drought
Steve Johnson had not scored in 48 games prior to his third period goal. His drought - stretching back to February 25th, 2016 against Michigan - was the longest on the team. Johnson had 9 more goalless games than Ryan Zuhlsdorf and over time was a week longer than Jack Glover.
"It's obviously been a while," Johnson said. "Whenever you can jump into the play like I did there you have to take advantage of it. It was a great pass from Rem and I just tried to get it through. Luckily it did."
Line Combinations:
The Gophers will be without Casey Mittelstadt.
Minnesota's freshman forward and Buffalo Sabres 2017 first round pick is missing Saturday's game after being one of several players dinged up Friday. In his place on a line with Sheehy is Ryan Norman while defenseman Tyler Nanne gets moved up to forward. Nanne was previously a forward before converting to defense.
Cullen Munson also plays Saturday in place of Joey Marooney and Rossini plays tonight after skating Friday warmups.
North Dakota, meanwhile, made a few line changes of its own. Austin Poganski and Grant Mismash switch while Colin Adams, who stood out Friday, gets moved up to the second line. Gabe Bast and Andrew Peski also switch D pairings.
The only personnel change for the Fighting Hawks is Zach Yon for freshman Jordan Kawaguchi.
Forwards
Rem Pitlick (#15) - Tyler Sheehy (#22) - Ryan Norman (#23)
Brent Gates Jr. (#10) - Mike Szmatula (#9) - Jack Ramsey (#16)
Leon Bristedt (#18) - Tommy Novak (#17) - Brannon McManus (#7)
Cullen Munson (#13) - Darian Romanko (#26) - Tyler Nanne (#29)
Defense
Ryan Lindgren (#5) - Jack Sadek (#2)
Ryan Zuhlsdorf (#20) - Sam Rossini (#28)
Steve Johnson (#4) - Jack Glover (#3)
Goaltenders
Eric Schierhorn (#37)
Brock Kautz (#1)
Nick Lehr (#34)
Forwards
Shane Gersich (#19) - Rhett Gardner (#22) - Austin Poganski (#14)
Colin Adams (#18) - Nick Jones (#8) - Grant Mismash (#16)
Zach Yon (#7) - Ludvig Hoff (#27) - Joel Janatuinen (#25)
Cole Smith (#26) - Dixon Bowen (#9) - Trevor Olson (#11)
Defense
Christian Wolanin (#24) - Colton Poolman (#6)
Hayden Shaw (#28) - Gabe Bast (#2)
Casey Johnson (#5) - Andrew Peski (#4)
Goaltenders
Cam Johnson (#33)
Peter Thome (#1)
Ryan Anderson (#35)
Italics indicate starter
Minnesota's freshman forward and Buffalo Sabres 2017 first round pick is missing Saturday's game after being one of several players dinged up Friday. In his place on a line with Sheehy is Ryan Norman while defenseman Tyler Nanne gets moved up to forward. Nanne was previously a forward before converting to defense.
Cullen Munson also plays Saturday in place of Joey Marooney and Rossini plays tonight after skating Friday warmups.
North Dakota, meanwhile, made a few line changes of its own. Austin Poganski and Grant Mismash switch while Colin Adams, who stood out Friday, gets moved up to the second line. Gabe Bast and Andrew Peski also switch D pairings.
The only personnel change for the Fighting Hawks is Zach Yon for freshman Jordan Kawaguchi.
University of Minnesota Golden Gophers
Forwards
Rem Pitlick (#15) - Tyler Sheehy (#22) - Ryan Norman (#23)
Brent Gates Jr. (#10) - Mike Szmatula (#9) - Jack Ramsey (#16)
Leon Bristedt (#18) - Tommy Novak (#17) - Brannon McManus (#7)
Cullen Munson (#13) - Darian Romanko (#26) - Tyler Nanne (#29)
Defense
Ryan Lindgren (#5) - Jack Sadek (#2)
Ryan Zuhlsdorf (#20) - Sam Rossini (#28)
Steve Johnson (#4) - Jack Glover (#3)
Goaltenders
Eric Schierhorn (#37)
Brock Kautz (#1)
Nick Lehr (#34)
University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks
Forwards
Shane Gersich (#19) - Rhett Gardner (#22) - Austin Poganski (#14)
Colin Adams (#18) - Nick Jones (#8) - Grant Mismash (#16)
Zach Yon (#7) - Ludvig Hoff (#27) - Joel Janatuinen (#25)
Cole Smith (#26) - Dixon Bowen (#9) - Trevor Olson (#11)
Defense
Christian Wolanin (#24) - Colton Poolman (#6)
Hayden Shaw (#28) - Gabe Bast (#2)
Casey Johnson (#5) - Andrew Peski (#4)
Goaltenders
Cam Johnson (#33)
Peter Thome (#1)
Ryan Anderson (#35)
Italics indicate starter
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