Game Recap - Kamal Stands Tall As Seawolves Get "Biggest Win In Program History"

With their season on the line, the University of Minnesota ran into a hot goalie. Alaska-Anchorage goalie Chris Kamal, who earlier in the season shut out the Gophers 1-0, stopped all twenty-four shots on goal as the Seawolves beat Minnesota 2-0 to advance to the WCHA Final Five for the second time in school history. This loss ends any chance for the Gophers to advance to the NCAA Tournament and marks the first time in forty years that a Gopher coach has missed the tournament three years in a row.

Minnesota was the aggressor for most of the first two periods as they controlled the game in the Seawolves zone. At the same time, Alaska-Anchorage was able to keep the Gophers to the outside and get in front of pucks. The Seawolves ended the game with twenty-five blocked shots for the second night in a row. When a Gopher player was able to thwart the Seawolves blue line and get a good opportunity to score, Kamal stood tall.

It wasn’t until the third period that anyone was able to score. After preaching patience to his team during the second intermission, Don Lucia and the 9,000 fans in Mariucci Arena watched fourth-line forward Mickey Spencer get around a pinched-in Kevin Wehrs and score his first goal of the season 2:32 into the third period. After a couple Minnesota scoring chances, including a powerplay, Tommy Grant scored on a breakaway to make it 2-0 and the celebration for Alaska-Anchorage was on.

In the end, Alaska-Anchorage was able to play to their own strengths and goaltending; a thought echoed by both coaches after the game. Minnesota captain Jay Barriball, who had two opportunities in the game, was visibly upset with the outcome of his Gophers career. His knee felt good enough but “[the team] just couldn’t get it done.” So instead of the Gophers, the Seawolves earn their biggest win in program history and get to adjust to NHL regulation ice (they haven’t played on it in a month) as they spend another week in St. Paul.

For the Gophers, the early end of a season brings up a lot of questions for a program that is known for its dominance and missed its third straight NCAA tournament. Coach Lucia refused to answer any questions looking at the future when asked by reporters but they will be sure to come up in the weeks and months ahead.

Other Notes:
-Lucia admitted after the game forward Erik Haula played with a broken foot.
-This is the second time Alaska-Anchorage has played in the Final Five; the first was in 2004.
-Lucia is the first Gophers coach in 40 years to miss the NCAA Tournament 3 years in a row.
-This is the second year in a row Minnesota has missed the Final Five and third overall.

Alaska-Anchorage Wins 2-0; Minnesota's Season Over

Minnesota’s hopes of returning to the NCAA Tournament and having a home crowd at the Frozen Four has ended as Alaska-Anchorage swept their best of three first-round series with a 2-0 win Saturday night. I’ll have a full recap later.

Saturday Night Lines

The only change from last night for the Gophers is Jake Parenteau in for Justin Holl.

Minnesota

Forwards:
Mike Hoeffel-Nick Bjugstad-Nick Larson
Jacob Cepis-Erik Haula-Jake Hansen
Nate Condon-Pat White-Jay Barriball
Tom Serratore-Nico Sacchetti-Joe Miller

Defense:
Seth Helgeson-Cade Fairchild
Aaron Ness-Mark Alt
Kevin Wehrs-Jake Parenteau

Goalies:
Kent Patterson
Jake Kremer
Alex Fons

Scratches:
Max Gardiner
Jared Larson
Justin Holl
Nate Schmidt

Injured:
Zach Budish
Taylor Matson
Alex Kangas

Alaska-Anchorage

Forwards:
Tommy Grant-Alex Gellert-Mitch Bruijsten
Jade Portwood-Craig Parkinson-Sean Wiles
Nick Haddad-Jordan Kwas-Brett Cameron
Mickey Spencer-Daniel Naslund-Tyler Currier

Defense:
Scott Warner-Brad Gorham
Quinn Sproule-Curtis Leinweber
Drew Darwitz-Luka Vidmar

Goalies:
Chris Kamal
Rob Gunderson

Follow me throughout the game on Twitter at twitter.com/gopherstate

Jake Hansen Penalty Shot

If there is one highlight from Friday’s game, it is this. Jake Hansen scoring the first penalty shot for Minnesota in Mariucci Arena in over five years.

Goaltending Fails As Minnesota Falls 4-3

In what has to be a major blow to any postseason hopes, the University of Minnesota finds themselves down 1-0 in their best of three WCHA playoff series after losing 4-3 to the University of Alaska-Anchorage. After erasing a three goal deficit, the Gophers allowed Mitch Bruijsten to score a powerplay goal with 6:32 left and the Seawolves held on for the win.

What started off as a quiet and uneventful first period ended with a flurry of activity and a Sean Wiles rebound goal. Both Minnesota and Alaska-Anchorage took their time to get going as the first nine and a half minutes saw exactly two shots. The Seawolves did a good job of clogging the blue line and forcing Minnesota to dump the puck and go around them. After a trio of penalties opened the game up and led to some golden opportunities for both teams in the middle part of the period, Wiles scored with 36.9 seconds left in the period to give the Seawolves a 1-0 lead.

The second period was a tale of two halves as Minnesota got back into the game. The first half was dominated by Alaska-Anchorage taking advantage of opportunities as the Gophers came out flat. Their passes weren’t clicking and players did a poor job of moving the puck around. Jade Portwood made it a 2-0 game 1:56 into the second period by scoring on a 3×2 from the top of the slot for his second goal of the season.

This was followed up by the worst goalie gaffe Minnesota has seen since Jeff Frazee let in a 185-foot goal four years ago. In a scene reminiscent of Roberto Luongo earlier this season, Kent Patterson passed the puck straight to Alex Gellert who had an easy breakaway to make it 3-0.

After being left for dead by the crowd, Jake Hansen began the comeback with eight minutes left in the second by driving hard to the net and drawing a penalty shot. A rejuvenated fanbase cheered Hansen on as he shot between Seawolves goalie Chris Kamal to make it 3-1. Aaron Ness followed up sixteen seconds later on the powerplay with a slapshot from the point to make it 3-2.

The third period was lackluster for the first six minutes until a Tom Serratore check brought back life in Minnesota. Despite having to deal with a suffocating trap by Alaska-Anchorage, Kevin Wehrs was able to score a highlight-reel goal with 8:42 left for his third of the season and give Gopher Nation hope before the eventual letdown. A late charge resulted in Jay Barriball hitting the post with ten seconds left, but the Gophers were unable to come back.

The major issue for Minnesota tonight was goaltending. What has normally been a strong point for the Gophers ended up costing them as goalie Kent Patterson had issues all night with controlling rebounds. Both goals in the second period were rather weak and ended up haunting the team; there aren’t too many opportunities when one team wins after giving up a shorthanded and powerplay goal. If Minnesota wants to keep their season alive, they can’t afford to put themselves in a position where they need to catch up.

As it is now, Minnesota needs to win at least four games in a row to get to the NCAA Tournament. However before they even look at the Frozen Four, the Gophers need to start with winning game two.

Gophers lines; Ness In, Matson Out

Minnesota lines (wearing gold thirds tonight):

Forwards:
Mike Hoeffel-Nick Bjugstad-Nick Larson
Jacob Cepis-Erik Haula-Jake Hansen
Nate Condon-Pat White-Jay Barriball
Tom Serratore-Nico Sacchetti-Joe Miller

Defense:
Seth Helgeson-Cade Fairchild
Aaron Ness-Mark Alt
Kevin Wehrs-Justin Holl

Goalies:
Kent Patterson
Jake Kremer
Alex Fons

Scratched:
Max Gardiner
Jared Larson
Jake Parenteau

Injured:
Zach Budish
Taylor Matson
Alex Kangas

Minnesota Looks To Make Postseason Statement Against Alaska-Anchorage

Records:

Minnesota: 16-12-6 Overall, 13-10-5 WCHA (fifth seed)

Alaska-Anchorage: 14-17-3 Overall, 12-14-2 WCHA (eighth seed)

Last Weekend:

Minnesota: 3 points against Bemidji State (Tied 3-3 Friday night, Won 3-2 Saturday night in OT)

Alaska-Anchorage: Swept Minnesota State Mankato (4-0 Friday night, 4-1 Saturday night)

After missing the Final Five for the second time in school history last season, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers look to get through the visiting University of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves in a best-of-three series and return to the Xcel Energy Center. Sitting tied for 18th in the PairWise rankings, the Gophers need to win twice this weekend and at least one game next weekend (possibly more) to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid, but for now the task at hand is on the Seawolves.

Despite finishing the season in eighth place, Alaska-Anchorage is still a viable threat to Minnesota as both teams are playing their best hockey at the right time. The Gophers are currently riding a seven game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) while the Seawolves have gone 7-4-0 in their last eleven and have won their last three games. They have had success against Minnesota this season, beating the Gophers 1-0 at Mariucci Arena after losing 5-1 the night before. That game sparked freshman goalie Chris Kaamal as he has gone 6-1-0 with a remarkable .940 save percentage since that victory.

For the Gophers to win, they need to continue to score and play good defense. In their unbeaten streak, Minnesota has outscored opponents 31-17 and not allowed an opponent to score more than three goals. The Seawolves are a distant tenth in the WCHA in goals scored and eleventh in powerplay percentage, which both help Minnesota out. At the same time, hot goaltending is key this time of the year and the Gophers are facing a team which gave up one goal last weekend. Minnesota has a hot goalie of their own in Kent Patterson (who led the league with a .926 save percentage) so if they can get an early goal, it will put the Seawolves on their toes.

The series' X factor is going to be the depth of the Gophers as according to former coach Doug Woog, Aaron Ness, Taylor Matson and Erik Haula are all questionable for this weekend after suffering injuries in Bemidji. Minnesota still has the talent to win, as shown by their 3-2 overtime victory last Saturday, but for a team on the outside of the NCAA tournament every player is important.

This should be an outstanding series for the Gophers as they look to continue their season and work their way up the PairWise rankings. All three games this weekend are at 7:00 PM Central and air on Fox Sports North. Friday and Sunday's games (if necessary) will air on alternate channels which are featured on the front page.