Déjà boo
Poor second periods haunt Mavericks on consecutive nights against Minnesota
by Dan Myers
Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: Mens Sports
The second period during Saturday's Minnesota State men's hockey game at Minnesota must have felt like a bad dream to the Mavericks.
Like the night before in Mankato, it was a pair of goals in the first five minutes and change of the period that doomed the Mavericks in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association home-and-home series sweep for Minnesota.
Friday's final in Mankato was 4-3. Saturday's at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis was 5-3.
The Mavericks were in the thick of both games entering the second period both nights, including Saturday - when the Mavs actually led 2-1 after the first period on a shorthanded goal by Jon Kalinski and a power-play tally by Mick Berge.
But the Gophers' Kyle Okposo scored two goals - one at 3:12 and the other at 5:14 to put the Gophers up for good.
Tony Lucia and Cade Fairchild added goals just over a minute apart later in the period to expand the Gopher lead to 5-2 after two.
"[Saturday] we were really horrible in the second period and they were good," said Mavericks head coach Troy Jutting. "We made the same mistake [Friday], then we made it again [Saturday]. I thought for 40 minutes, we beat them. But for 20 minutes, they really whipped us."
"We let down, weren't battling again and got beat one-on-one," Berge said. "We just let down. I really have no explanation."
Berge scored the only goal of Saturday's third period after forcing a turnover in the Minnesota zone. The junior went the other way and tucked a shot between the legs of UM goalie Alex Kangas to pull the Mavericks within two, but MSU could pull no closer.
For the second consecutive night, Minnesota State was outshot for the game, but owned an edge in the third period.
The Gophers led 1-0 after one period at the Alltel Center Friday and used goals by Lucia and Patrick White in the first four minutes of the second frame to build a three-goal advantage.
"We got beat," Jutting said of the first second period goal. "We were right there with them and they just wanted it more than we did.
"[After the first goal of the period] I think we were back on our heels a little bit and Minnesota did a great job of getting another one right away."
Kalinski got the Mavericks on the board at 8:21 but Evan Kaufmann re-established the three-goal cushion entering the third period.
Berge made it 4-2 on a power-play goal at 4:33 of the third and freshman Andy Sackrison pulled the Mavericks within one just over three minutes later. The goal was Sackrison's first collegiate goal.
The star of the weekend offensively for either team was Berge - who scored a goal and an assist Friday to go along with two more goals Saturday. For the season, Berge leads MSU with six goals and eight points.
"I thought Mick played very well," Jutting said. "He's finishing off on his opportunities right now."
Kalinski added a goal each night - including a short-handed tally Saturday, his first of the season. Last year, Kalinski led the Mavericks with four shorties. The junior from Lacasey, Alta. now has four goals in the last two weekends after being shutout in the first four games this season.
Mike Zacharias got the start in net Friday and stopped 20 of 24 shots. Jutting decided to go with junior Dan Tormey on Saturday, but he struggled - allowing five goals on 33 shots.
Minnesota's goal on Zacharias at 12:16 Friday was the first allowed by the junior in 179:33 - just 27 seconds short of three full games.
The Gophers were also able to escape from an ugly slump on the power-play. Minnesota entered Friday's game in Mankato mirred in an 0-for-30 slump with the man-advantage.
The streak ended quickly, however, as Minnesota scored on each of its first two power-play chances. The Gophers added two more power-play tallies on seven chances Friday to go 4-for-10 on the weekend.
"They've got two kids that are top-7 picks in the NHL Draft," Jutting said. "They're going to score power-play goals, they've got too many great players."
Jutting noted the Mavericks have plenty to take from the weekend against Minnesota.
"It's a learning weekend for us. With young teams, you're going to have ups and downs like the second periods for us."
Minnesota State will continue WCHA play this weekend with a Friday-Saturday series at the University of Denver. Face-off is scheduled for 8:37 p.m. Friday and 8:07 p.m. Saturday at Magness Arena in Denver, Colo.
Dan Myers is the Reporter Sports Editor