broke the story<\/a> of a potential recruiting violation regarding Zach Parise, a high school star who recently verbally committed to North Dakota.<\/p>\nWith everyone talking about it, Lucia would only say that the USCHO report was an accurate reflection of events.<\/p>\n
“I asked them not to go,” said Lucia of the visit by former coach Glen Sonmor and former player Lou Nanne to a highly-touted recruit earlier in the week. Such visits are forbidden by the NCAA, if it is for recruiting purposes. “I wish they would not have gone down there. I was more concerned how it looks for the University.”<\/p>\n
Despite all of the chatter, the Gopher players were unfazed. Minnesota started the scoring early as Erik Wendell opened with a power-play goal at 3:49 on the Gophers’ first shot of the game. <\/p>\n
It came on during a holding penalty by the Beavers’ Jeff McGill. Jordon Leopold set the stage by wristing a shot from the center blue line. Wendell tipped the shot past Bemidji State’s netminder Grady Hunt to earn his first goal of the season.<\/p>\n
Minnesota landed the second punch 83 seconds later at 5:12 on an even-strength goal by freshman Barry Tallackson. Defenseman Paul Martin set up the play by driving the left lane and feeding a pass back across the goal lane to Tallackson, who buried the puck for his first collegiate goal.<\/p>\n
At 10:03, BSU scored on a delayed penalty as Kurt Knott found the top shelf on a slap shot from the top of the right circle on a fast break. Knott had received the puck from Jared Hanowski at center-ice with speed, driving past the lone Minnesota defender and beating Minnesota’s freshman netminder Travis Weber. Hunt had barely made it to the Beaver bench when the goal was scored.<\/p>\n
The first-period scoring closed with Minnesota leading 3-1 on a nifty power-play goal by Troy Riddle. A 1-2-3 play from Tallackson and Koalska left Riddle wide open at the left pipe for the tap in.<\/p>\n
The Beavers opened the second with the power play but they failed to muster a shot.<\/p>\n
It was then that the Gophers took over, dominating the second period and tallying three power-play goals. Riddle notched his second of the game, and Johnny Pohl and Leopold added scores.<\/p>\n
“We have two real good units this year,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said of his power-play units. “Our 5-on-5 play needs some work.”<\/p>\n
BSU finished the game strong, outshooting the Gophers 10-6 in the final stanza. Their third-period efforts were highlighted by an unassisted power-play rush by Riley Riddell at 18:24.<\/p>\n
Both coaches said BSU had showed improvement over last year. “We gave up 50-plus shots last year. … This year it was only in the 30s. We clogged the neutral zone well,” Serratore said.<\/p>\n
“I think Bemidji is better this year. They kept the shots way down. They’re going to win some games,” said Lucia.<\/p>\n
Senior goaltender Adam Hauser is expected to start if healthy Saturday.<\/p>\n
“He [Adam] got sick today. If he is healthy enough, he will play tomorrow,” said Lucia.<\/p>\n
“We can’t take any game lightly. We have to put this game behind us and concentrate on tomorrow night,” said the Gophers’ Jordon Leopold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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