Minnesota State vs. Minnesota — Game 2

Lines are posted below the live chat. The same players are in the lineup for the Mavs but the lines have been shuffled a bit. Just one change for Minnesota, with Ryan Reilly at C on the fourth line ...




MINNESOTA STATE
24-Knowles      29-LaFontaine    25-Hayes
21-Grant           18-Leitner           19-Lehrke
9-Gervais          23-Blueger          22-McInnis
26-Margonari    29-Zuck              8-Gaede

16-Elbrecht       2-Nelson
7-Palmquist       4-Buchanan
27-Stern            28-Jutzi

30-Cook
35-Williams
31-Karambelas

Scratches: Burkemper (inj.), Herndon, Knoll (inj.), Leivermann, Mosey, Thauwald

MINNESOTA
7-Rau               27-Bjugstad         24-Budish
16-Condon       19-Haula             26-Isackson
10-Marshall      22-Boyd              17-Ambroz
14-Serratore      9-R. Reilly          12-Holl

6-Parenteau       29-Schmidt
5-M. Reilly       20-Alt
4-Helgeson       2-Skjei

32-Wilcox
1-Shibrowski

Referees: Don Adam, Timm Walsh. Linesmen: Sam Shikowsy, Nick Bradshaw

Friday morning skate

Pat Christman/The Free Press

Big weekend for the Mavericks. Not only is it a home-and-home with No. 2-ranked Minnesota (starting tonight at Mariucci Arena), but it's a chance to get back on track after a tough WCHA-opening weekend at St. Cloud State.

That weekend may have exposed some things that Mike Hastings didn't know about his team in nonconference play, and the new coach is trying to nip that in the bud ASAP. No easy task against the Gophers.

"Our compete," Hastings said when asked where MSU needs the most improvement. "I liked where it was for 40 minutes on Saturday (at St. Cloud)."

Hastings said senior Phil Cook (pictured) likely will get the start in goal tonight. Cook has had his ups and downs throughout his career. Yep, some high highs and a couple of low lows. But the last time he played against Minnesota, he was as good as he's ever been. That was two years ago, an MSU sweep in Mankato when he earned WCHA's defensive player of the week honors.

I'll post the Mavericks' official lines later today, but expect them to be mixed up a bit from last week. From there, who knows what may change in the game, Hastings said. Lines changed daily in practice but it appears the top group will be Matt Leitner between Chase Grant and Johnny McInnis. Other groupings from Thursday: Jean-Paul LaFontaine, Dylan Margonari and Bryce Gervais; Eli Zuck, Brett Knowles and Eriah Hayes; and Teddy Blueger, Max Gaede and Zach Lehrke (we'll see if it stays that way). J.P. Burkemper is out with an injury.

"Until we get some consistency, I don't think you'll see consistency in the lines," Hastings said. "We're searching for answers. ... We're trying to come up with some combinations where we get good offensive production without abandoning the defensive side of things."

Read more on The Freep's College Hockey Gameday.

Checking in on the Minnesota coverage, the Star Tribune's Michael Russo wrote about Hastings, who spent one season on the Gophers bench as an assistant coach. Meanwhile Roman Augustoviz predicts a Gophers sweep. At the Pioneer Press, Gophers player Tom Serratore (the son of Hastings' old coach Frank) is featured.

Going around the WCHA ...

Nebraska-Omaha at Michigan Tech: The red Mavs hit the road for Houghton with some hope for their offense after James Polk (any relation to our 11th president?) scored his first goal. The Huskies, meanwhile, are hoping to bounce back after getting swept at Denver last weekend.

Colorado College at Wisconsin: The only team yet to have played a WCHA series, the Tigers hope to start conference play strong in Madison. For the Badgers, everyone knows that Mark Zengerle is more than pretty good, but he thinks he can make himself even better.

St. Cloud State at Denver: Fresh off their sweep of MSU, the Huskies will head west without star forward Ben Hanowski, who was injured in last week's series opener. For the unbeaten Pioneers, much was made about their goaltending and defense in the preseason, but they've scored five goals in each of their first four games.

Boston University at North Dakota: What a treat of a nonconference series in Grand Forks between two national powers. It's the first time since 1996 that the Terriers have played at UND, but with the changes coming to college hockey, it may not take that long to happen again.

Other coverage from USCHO and College Hockey News.

Check back on the blog later today and tonight for more on the Minnesota State vs. Minnesota game from Minneapolis.

Gophers 4, Mavericks 2 (updated)

Freddy's Three Thoughts of the Game:

1. Ten-second turning point: A close game hinged on a Minnesota power play early in the third period. Minnesota State senior (and one-time Gopher) Michael Dorr had a short-handed breakaway but fired his shot wide. Minnesota came right back down to the other end of the ice, and Erik Haula blasted a shot past goalie Austin Lee (26 saves) from the right point. Not sure if Lee was screened on the play. Replay seemed to show that defenseman Josh Nelson was in front of his teammate, but coach Troy Jutting suggested that there was no screen. Either way, it was the difference in the game.

2. Long goals: Haula wasn't the only player with a long goal that the opposing goaltender would have liked back. MSU defenseman Evan Mosey scored the Mavericks' first goal, tying the game at 1-1 at 8:04 of the first period with a skipping shot from just inside the blue line that beat goalie Kent Patterson (26 saves). Lee also gave up a low, far-side shot from the right circle on the game's opening goal by Taylor Matson and didn't cover the near post enough on Nick Larson's goal that made it 2-1 at the start of the third period. Minnesota's other goal was an empty-netter by Jake Hanson.

3. Youngsters step up again: The Mavericks tied the game at 2-2 with a power-play goal at 9:28 of the second period. Freshman Jean-Paul LaFontaine scored it for his eighth goal of the season, but the play started with a heady play by rookie defenseman Zach Palmquist. Palmquist kicked the puck near the blue line to keep the puck in the zone. Then he gathered it up, beat a defender and charged hard to the net. He was checked into the goal, creating a pile-up in the net on top of Patterson, and LaFontaine fired in a loose puck. Zach Lehrke also assisted on the play.

Deep thought: It's got to be frustrating for MSU right now. They played the country's fifth-ranked team toe to toe only to extend their winless streak to six games. They've also had a six-game losing streak already this season.

Quote of the night: "That's a 10-second difference that could have been the exact opposite, a huge momentum for us at obviously a key point in the hockey game." — Troy Jutting on the turning point of the game.

See the box score here. Read my gamer here. More coverage from the Star Tribune, the Pioneer Press, USCHO and College Hockey News.

Around the WCHA: Minnesota Duluth 5, Michigan Tech 3 ... Alabama-Huntsville 3, Nebraska Omaha 1 ... Bemidji State 6, St. Cloud State 6 - OT ... Colorado College 4, Denver 3 - OT (CC wins on penalty shot in OT) ... North Dakota 5, Alaska Anchorage 2

Backes among Hockey Hub's top 100

There's a pretty cool thing going on on the website Minnesota Hockey Hub right now. They're counting down the top 100 Minnesota high school hockey players. The countdown began this week, with Herb Brooks as No. 100. They're naming one player per day, leading up to the start of the 2011-12 high school hockey season. This is quite the undertaking, and undoubtedly will stir up great memories as well as a more than a few arguments.

On Friday, No. 96 was unveiled and it was none other than one of Minnesota State's top players, David Backes of Spring Lake Park.

The write-up on Backes praises him for staying in high school and staying at Spring Lake Park, specifically.

"He is all of what you look for in a high school hockey player," his coach, Tom Benson said. "He was committed to a small program like ours, both as a hockey player and baseball player.

"He was loyal to his school, very proud."

Who else from Minnesota State could be on the list? Anyone? Who do you think will be in the top 10? What about No. 1?

What do you think?