Re: Minnesota @ Wisconsin: 1/22 & 1/23
Even though the Gophers were not getting pucks on net last night as they have of late, they made the ones they did get count with style points. The PPG from Fasching from his sweet spot near the paint to open the scoring was textbook. Justin Kloos' pass to trailing Steve Johnson for a 3 hole was phenomenal, then Kloos' deke and goal top shelf off the crossbar was an absolute dinger, extending his scoring streak to 4 games.
The four game scoring streak is a first in Justin Kloos' college career. Fasching continues to impress averaging 2 pts/4 games and is now 5-3-8 in his last 4 games. If these guys can continue their scoring pace, along with other contributors Bristedt, C. Reilly (4 pts in last 2 games), Sheehy, Novak, etc. and solid D from Brodz, Bischoff, Johnson, Seeler, this team has the potential to beat very good teams and have a good playoff run in the NCAAs. They've come a long way since Oct.
The Badgers on the other hand matched the Gophers intensity early in the first. But then it seemed their offense went south and although they outshot the Gophers, they did'nt put consistent pressure on Schierhorn who made some very good saves last night. I thought Ryan Wagner played well and got pucks on net, but I was surprised at Grant Besse, who IMO possesses some star power but did not deliver on his breakaway or the open shot on Scheirhorn that dinged him in the melon and drew blood.
Gophers will need to grab the early lead as I'm sure the Badgers will come out with more intensity out of the gate and try to generate more offense tonight.
Even though the Gophers were not getting pucks on net last night as they have of late, they made the ones they did get count with style points. The PPG from Fasching from his sweet spot near the paint to open the scoring was textbook. Justin Kloos' pass to trailing Steve Johnson for a 3 hole was phenomenal, then Kloos' deke and goal top shelf off the crossbar was an absolute dinger, extending his scoring streak to 4 games.
The four game scoring streak is a first in Justin Kloos' college career. Fasching continues to impress averaging 2 pts/4 games and is now 5-3-8 in his last 4 games. If these guys can continue their scoring pace, along with other contributors Bristedt, C. Reilly (4 pts in last 2 games), Sheehy, Novak, etc. and solid D from Brodz, Bischoff, Johnson, Seeler, this team has the potential to beat very good teams and have a good playoff run in the NCAAs. They've come a long way since Oct.
The Badgers on the other hand matched the Gophers intensity early in the first. But then it seemed their offense went south and although they outshot the Gophers, they did'nt put consistent pressure on Schierhorn who made some very good saves last night. I thought Ryan Wagner played well and got pucks on net, but I was surprised at Grant Besse, who IMO possesses some star power but did not deliver on his breakaway or the open shot on Scheirhorn that dinged him in the melon and drew blood.
Gophers will need to grab the early lead as I'm sure the Badgers will come out with more intensity out of the gate and try to generate more offense tonight.
