1. Perhaps Minnesota needs to work on that penalty kill. After beating Minnesota-Duluth 6-1 Friday, Minnesota lost 6-2 Sunday, and four of those Duluth goals came on the power play, including Justin Crandall’s game-winning, five-on-three marker at 14:27 in the first period. The Bulldogs began their scoring at 7:47 in the first with a shorthanded goal, so perhaps the Gophers will be looking at special teams overall in practice this week. The Gophers took 10 penalties to the Bulldogs’ 13 in the contest. Wow.
2. Perhaps Michigan State is still looking for some offense. The Spartans were swept by Western Michigan in a home-and-home series this weekend, outscored by the Broncos 6-1 in two games. In Friday’s 2-0 shutout, two nearly identical goals were scored on Western Michigan breakaways in a game that looked otherwise evenly matched. In Saturday’s game, two of the Broncos’ four goals were scored on the power play and another scored four-on-four … so perhaps the Spartans will be working on special teams this week as well. Freshman Mackenzie MacEachern’s fourth goal of the season in the third period of Saturday’s loss was the only Michigan State goal of the weekend, and that goal was four-on-four as well.
3. Perhaps Michigan should just keep on keeping on. The Wolverines rolled past visiting Niagara, 6-0, giving freshman Zach Nagelvoort his second shutout of the season; Nagelvoort made 38 saves in the contest. Sophomore Andrew Copp had two goals in the contest, bringing his season total to seven goals in 11 games — four goals short of his output in 38 games during his freshman season. Copp now leads the Wolverines in scoring with 12 points.
