Gophers sweep Michigan, move into first-place tie

A lot has changed in three weeks within the Gophers men's hockey program. Instead of fighting off the perception that the sky is falling, the Gophers are showing that everything is more than OK by settling into a first-place tie with Michigan in the Big Ten standings Saturday night. Less than a month ago, they were in fifth place and deep in a midseason skid.

The Gophers completed the series sweep against the No. 12 Wolverines with a 2-0 victory at Mariucci Arena and an announced 10,216 crowd showed them plenty of love for affirming the potential turnaround story on Valentine's Day. At least half of the fans stuck around for the postgame salute at center ice.

While the crowd directed its ovation at the team as a whole, the Gophers (16-9-3, 6-2-3 Big Ten) directed their praise at junior goalie Adam Wilcox, who had 26 saves and held the Wolverines' nation-best offense scoreless for the first time this season.

Wilcox stuffed Justin Selman in the final seconds of the game with six Michigan attackers on the ice. Moments later he celebrated as Kyle Rau slammed home the open-net goal with 20.7 seconds left.

"I just kind of feel like my old self again," Wilcox said after his fourth shutout of the season. "It happens. It's hockey. In three years you're going to have [bad] stretches like that. It trickles down from me to the whole team … I think everyone just said, 'Enough is enough,' and now we're playing like we should be playing as a team and with our skill set."

Wilcox didn't hide his excitement after Rau's goal. The goaltender glided to the top of the slot and raised his stick and glove high above his head. It's been two months since the Gophers' star goalie had shut out an opponent.

Gophers coach Don Lucia knew it was only a matter of time until his goaltender would return to top form by holding an opponent that was averaging 4.21 goals per game to two through two games.

"Adam got back on top of his game," Lucia said. "You know, the save at the end was kind of what we're used to here; that he makes that game-changing save, and he did. I thought our guys did a real good job again defensively."

Seth Ambroz scored the Gophers' lone goal through 59 minutes, connecting early in the first period for a cushion that Wilcox would protect throughout the rest of the night.

Michigan (16-10-0, 8-4-0) started junior Steve Racine in the net. Racine started both victories in early January and held the Gophers to one goal after taking over midway through Friday night's loss.

Racine continued to cause the Gophers problems and finished with 31 saves, but Wilcox made the big saves when necessary and redeemed his performance at Michigan, where he gave up nine goals and lost twice.

"I knew that we had the ability to [be on top of the standings]," Ambroz said, "Everyone is buying into our system, buying into our team, and it's a lot of fun to be a part of. You got guys selling out with their bodies and making plays that are critical in the game."

The Gophers won with defense for the second straight night. Both teams struggled to get anything brewing offensively in the first period, combining for 13 shots on goal. The only even-strength goal was made possible by Leon Bristedt's ability to hold the forecheck while the second line transitioned onto the ice four minutes into the first period, and as Ambroz skated inside the left circle, Bristedt fed him the puck and Ambroz unloaded it for his sixth goal in the past six games.

The Gophers will try to carry the momentum to Penn State next weekend. The Nittany Lions are just two points out of first place.

"We had to climb ourselves back in it, but the guys have done a good job with staying with it," Lucia said. "This was important for us at the end of the year."