{"id":90204,"date":"2019-01-09T10:00:31","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T16:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=90204"},"modified":"2020-08-24T13:28:17","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T18:28:17","slug":"minnesota-on-the-upswing-as-gophers-playing-better-hockey-having-better-depth-throughout-the-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2019\/01\/09\/minnesota-on-the-upswing-as-gophers-playing-better-hockey-having-better-depth-throughout-the-lineup\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota on the upswing as Gophers ‘playing better hockey,’ ‘having better depth’ throughout the lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"4<\/a>
Minnesota goaltender Mat Robson is 5-4-4 this season with a 2.59 GAA and a .924 save percentage for the Gophers (photo: Jim Rosvold).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Bob Motzko, the magic number is three.<\/p>\n

Or four.<\/p>\n

Anything more than two, really.<\/p>\n

The Golden Gophers scored no more than two goals in nine of their 15 first-half games. Five of those nine games were losses and four were ties \u2013 three ties and no extra points in Big Ten conference play \u2013 and nothing about a two-goal total was sitting well with Motzko, his coaching staff or his team.<\/p>\n

After a 4-3 road win over Michigan Dec. 8, Motzko said, \u201cThis has been a crazy, high-high, low-low first half.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was so crazy, said Motzko, that the Gophers hadn\u2019t yet come to realize that their team was on an upward swing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just reminded before the game that we\u2019d only lost one game in the last seven,\u201d said Motzko. \u201cI had no idea of that. I told the team that. The players didn\u2019t know that either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minnesota ended the first half of the season with an overall record of 5-6-3, but in their last eight games \u2013 including that win in Ann Arbor \u2013 the Gophers had gone 3-2-3, with one of those losses coming in overtime against St. Lawrence to kick off that stretch. In their last eight games of the first half, the Gophers averaged 3.12 goals per game, including a 7-2 win over Michigan State Nov. 24. In the first seven games of the season, Minnesota averaged 2.14 goals per game, and that includes a 7-4 win over Minnesota-Duluth Oct. 7.<\/p>\n

Last Friday at home against Penn State, the Gophers once again found themselves on the wrong end of a score in which two factored prominently. The Nittany Lions beat the Golden Gophers 4-2, but this time the equation felt a little different. Trailing by two goals in the third period, Minnesota\u2019s Jack Ramsey scored to bring the Gophers to within one and Minnesota outshot Penn State 14-6 in the third. It wasn\u2019t until Alex Limoges scored the empty-net goal in the final minute that the game was out of reach for Minnesota.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly in the year, we weren\u2019t getting a lot of chances and now we\u2019re getting chances. We\u2019re playing better hockey,\u201d said Motzko after the loss. \u201cWe\u2019re having better depth throughout our lineup. Our power play, we had good looks tonight on it. We need to stick with that right now and we can\u2019t get frustrated because we are a better hockey team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy be frustrated right now? We\u2019ve got to continue to push on and play better hockey and we\u2019ve got to find ways to get to three and four. We have a few times. That\u2019s the same story on an outcome, but we looked better at it tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Gophers looked even better at it the following night when they beat the Nittany Lions 4-1, shutting down the top offense in the nation after Penn State scored first. In fact, after Chase Berger scored to give Penn State the lead at 12:36 in the first period, Minnesota\u2019s Tyler Nanne answered at 15:55 and the Gophers never looked back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was our best game from start to finish, with our entire lineup playing just a real solid hockey game tonight,\u201d said Motzko. \u201cI like what we did last night. It was a good weekend for us to hopefully continue to grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing pains are common when a program experiences a coaching change.<\/p>\n

Motzko came in this year as the Gophers\u2019 head coach when Don Lucia stepped down after 19 seasons behind the Minnesota bench. Motzko, who was the head coach at St. Cloud State for 13 years before returning to Minneapolis, was Lucia\u2019s assistant from 2001 to 2005.<\/p>\n

As a native of Austin, Minn., Motzko grew up steeped in the lore of the “state of hockey” and was a natural choice for the Gophers\u2019 job after his successful run in St. Cloud. Regardless, there was an adjustment period and that, said Motzko, may have finally run its course.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best way I can explain it from my standpoint is I felt early, it was two groups staring at each other,\u201d said Motzko. \u201cBut as we\u2019ve gotten to know our leadership group, our core group \u2013 it\u2019s a really strong group of character. Great kids. Great young men. They want to do things the right way. They want to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

That leadership core includes co-captains Brent Gates, Jr. and Tyler Sheehy and assistant captains Jack Ramsey and Darian Romanko, all seniors. Gates and Sheehy are among the scoring leaders of the team, and both are on track to have career seasons. Gates has scored a goal in each of his last five games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not staring at each other any more,\u201d said Motzko. \u201cWe\u2019re communicating with each other. I hope that they know we\u2019re on their side and vice-versa. There\u2019s a comfort level there. I really like that group of leaders. Then last weekend, Ramsey gets two, Gates gets hot, Sheehy\u2019s been good \u2013 that\u2019s seniors playing pretty well for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramsey, who had a career-best four goals in 38 games last season, netted one in each contest against Penn State for his first two of this campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe scores in practice a lot,\u201d said Motzko. \u201cWe told him he\u2019s got a green light during the game. He finally listened to us, so good for him. I told all of them they\u2019ve got a greenlight to score and by God they\u2019re finally listening to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a sense that things are coming together for the Gophers, but Motzko doesn\u2019t want to jinx it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re playing a whole lot better, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d said Motzko. \u201cWe\u2019ve started to sort some things out and some players have gotten much more comfortable. Goaltending has solidified.\u201d Senior Eric Schierhorn has played in seven fewer games than junior Mat Robson, but Schierhorn has posted his career-best save percentage and goals-against average.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth guys have played well when we\u2019ve had them in there. Gates is on a run right now. Our power play has stayed consistent, our penalty kill except for one weekend \u2013 things like that, I\u2019m just referencing, have solidified themselves for us. We\u2019re playing better hockey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been reluctant to say, \u2018Turn the corner,\u2019 to find the term outside of we\u2019ve been playing better hockey for a little over month, a month-and-a-half, and we\u2019re showing improvement and building some confidence. You\u2019re always reluctant to say it because\u2014wham! \u2013 something might happen, but you can\u2019t hide from the fact that we\u2019re quietly moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Motzko said that looking back on the first half, aside from the natural adjustment period, he sees the team lacking in confidence rather than lacking in consistency. That, too, is changing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing that when you ask about November and before, it was offense,\u201d said Motzko. \u201cWe were getting to two, and it\u2019s still kind of been there, but we\u2019re quietly getting over three. Guys are starting to feel a little more confident with the puck. You talk about Gates. You go on a five-game stretch there. That has to happen because we weren\u2019t getting to three. We were only getting to two.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heading to South Bend for a crucial Big Ten series against No. 9 Notre Dame, Motzko is all about the magic that a number greater than two can deliver \u2013 like the way four goals against Penn State last Saturday helped manifest a win.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our sport,\u201d said Motzko, \u201cI believe you\u2019ve got to get to three and get there quick. You build momentum off of that. Hopefully next week, we\u2019ll talk about it again.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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