Feb. 9, 2008

From Minnesota Athletics

Minnesota was held to one goal for the fourth consecutive game as the Gophers suffered a 4-1 loss in the second game of their weekend series on Saturday at Denver.

The Gophers trailed 3-0 after two periods and avoided their first shutout in 49 games when David Fischer scored with 3:56 left in the third period. It was the 12th time this season the Gophers have been held to one goal as they still have not been shutout in their 32 games. Minnesota finished with a 31-28 edge in shots for the game with Denver getting an empty net goal with 1:36 left.

The Gophers are now below .500 for the first time this season at 12-13-7 overall and 6-11-5 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Denver, ranked seventh in the country, is 19-8-1 overall and 13-6-1 in the league.

Minnesota had three power plays in the opening period, but it was the Pioneers who controlled much of the play and owned a 13-11 edge in shots. Denver also had the only goal of the period when Matt Glasser won a puck along the boards and skated to the faceoff circle where he ripped a shot past Gophers' goaltender Alex Kangas.

Denver's Tyler Bozak continued to terrorize the Gophers with his fifth goal in the four games between the teams this season. The freshman scored on a delayed penalty with a shot from the slot with assists from Rhett Rakhshani and Tom May. The goal came moments after Minnesota's best offensive pressure of the game as Denver goaltender Peter Mannino made several big saves before the score at 10:26 of the second period.

Just over two minutes later Rakhshani struck again, tipping in a long shot by Chris Butler for a power play goal at 12:31 of the period. Bozak also picked up an assist on the goal as the Pioneers took a 3-0 advantage. The power play goal snapped Minnesota's string of having killed off 18 consecutive penalties.

Denver had just two shots in the third period as the Gophers held a 13-4 advantage in the final stanza. Fischer took a shot from the right faceoff dot and fired through a screen. Evan Kaufmann and Mike Carman earned assists on the play. Brian Gifford added the empty net goal for the Pioneers.

Minnesota finished 0-for-4 on the power play, while Denver was 1-for-3. Kangas made 24 saves for the Gophers and allowed three goals for just the second time in his last 11 starts.

The Gophers have next weekend off before returning to the ice against Wisconsin on Feb. 22-23 at Mariucci Arena.