The No. 4-rated Gophers are off to a great start at 4-0-2 and climbing the polls. But there is a major roadblock in their way.

No. 5 New Hampshire (4-1-2) comes to Mariucci this weekend. N.H. is the defending Hockey East champion.

The Gophers have to be feeling pretty good about themselves. After a 3-3 tie with Minnesota State Mankato, the Gophers beat the Mavericks 6-3 in the second game of their series last weekend. It was played at the X as part of the WCHA Minnesota Hockey Showcase.

The U scored a season-high three goals in the second period and matched that total in the third with Ryan Flynn’s empty-netter at the finish.

The Gophers never had six goals last season. The last time they scored that many was 57 games ago, in a 6-2 victory over Alaska Anchorage in the WCHA playoffs on March 9, 2007.

 

Three players scored their first goal of the season: freshman center Jordan Schroeder, who also got his second; junior defenseman David Fischer, he has three goals in three seasons, and junior wing Ryan Flynn.

Sophomore defenseman Cade Fairchild had four assists; the last Gopher to get that many was Mike Vannelli against Ohio State on Oct. 21, 2006.

 The Gophers scored four power-play goals in this game. A feat they did not accomplish in the 2007-08 season. The most they had that season was three in the season opener vs. RPI.

The last time they had four goals or more was Dec. 1, 2006 when the Gophers tied Minnesota State Mankato 5-5 at Mariucci Arena. All five of the Gophers’ goals were on the pp.  

A look at the WCHA series this weekend:

* North Dakota at Colorado College: CC (5-0-3) tied Denver 2-2 and beat the Pioneers 3-2 in a home and home series. CC is the nation’s No. 1-rated team. The Sioux (2-4-0) have stumbled out of the gate. Last weekend they split with Wisconsin at the Ralph, winning 3-2, then losing 5-2. … Last season CC won the regular-season WCHA title, Denver won the Final Five but it was NoDak that reached the Frozen Four in Denver.

* UMD at Denver: The Bulldogs played only one game last weekend, beating St. Cloud State 5-1 on three power-play goals at the X in the inaugural WCHA Minnesota Hockey Showcase. UMD has the goalie, in Alex Stalock, if the Dogs can start scoring they could keep surprising. UMD is 4-1-2.

* Michigan Tech at Wisconsin: These teams have only three victories between them.

* Minnesota State Mankato at Alaska Anchorage: The Seawolves desperately want to get out of the WCHA basement this season and are 5-2-1 so far, 2-1-1 in the conference.

WCHA notes: WCHA teams are 16-8-2 vs. nonconference opponents so far.Â

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