A Rough Start, and Plenty to Learn in Houghton

Well, that wasn't quite the beginning Gopher fans had in mind.

After an offseason full of change, a new head coach, and a nearly unrecognizable roster, Minnesota finally returned to the ice Saturday afternoon in Houghton. By Sunday evening, the Gophers were headed home with two losses, three goals, and plenty to work on.

Michigan Tech earned its sweep, 3–2 and 3–1. The Huskies were physical, disciplined, and perfectly comfortable making Minnesota fight for every inch of ice.

But if you watched both games, you probably came away with a more complicated impression than the 0–2 record suggests.

There were stretches when Minnesota looked fast, aggressive, and dangerous. There were others when the Gophers couldn't string together a clean breakout, establish a forecheck, or generate much of anything around the net.

And there were enough chances left on the table to make you wonder how differently the weekend might have unfolded.

That's the frustrating part. Minnesota showed flashes of what it could become. Just not nearly enough of them.

Let's start with something that might surprise you.

Minnesota actually outshot Michigan Tech 61–54 over the weekend. The Gophers also held a 107–86 advantage in shot attempts, according to College Hockey News.

Saturday was especially encouraging in that department. Minnesota attempted 59 shots to Tech's 40, controlled a good deal of the offensive play, and had opportunities to come away with a win.

Sunday was a different story.

The Gophers managed just five shots in the opening period, and their advantage in total attempts shrank to 48–46. At even strength, Tech actually held a narrow edge.

And here's where things get interesting.

College Hockey News' expected-goals model had the two teams almost dead even over the weekend, 5.1–5.0 in Minnesota's favor.

But Sportlogiq data, shared by Ryan Sikes of RMS Hockey, tells a different story. That model gave Michigan Tech a 6.03–5.01 advantage in expected goals, including an edge in both games.

Two different models, two different conclusions. Neither is gospel.

But both point toward something worth examining: Minnesota got plenty of pucks toward the net, particularly Saturday. That doesn't necessarily mean the Gophers were generating the better chances.

And that distinction lines up with what we saw.

How many times did Minnesota finally get established in the offensive zone, put a puck toward the net, and then watch Tech break out almost immediately?

It happened over and over, especially Sunday.

The Gophers would work to get possession, generate an attempt, and then find themselves heading back through the neutral zone. Sometimes the shot was blocked. Sometimes Tech won the puck battle. Sometimes Minnesota simply couldn't keep the play alive.

Whatever the reason, the result was the same: not nearly enough sustained pressure.

Give Tech credit. The Huskies were excellent at protecting the middle of the ice, getting into shooting lanes, and making life difficult around their net. They blocked 18 Minnesota attempts Saturday alone.

Larson noticed it, too.

After Saturday's loss, he talked about Minnesota becoming too perimeter-oriented during a third-period lull. The Gophers weren't getting enough traffic, tips, rebounds, or second and third opportunities.

And that's what made the line of Tate Pritchard, Luke Ludtke, and Mason Moe stand out.

Those three were willing to get after pucks, win battles, and keep shifts alive. Pritchard scored on a breakaway Saturday, but it was the line's work away from the scoresheet that caught my attention.

Larson singled them out afterward for much the same reason.

There were glimpses of that kind of effort elsewhere in the lineup. Beckett Hendrickson's Saturday goal was another example of what can happen when the Gophers get to the hard areas and refuse to give up on a puck.

Minnesota needs more of it.

Not necessarily more shots. More shifts where one chance leads to another, where the forecheck keeps Tech hemmed in, and where the Huskies don't get an easy exit after the first attempt.

One thing became pretty clear over the weekend: Michigan Tech had no intention of letting Minnesota turn these games into a free-flowing, up-and-down affair.

And why would it?

The Huskies were comfortable protecting the middle, playing physically along the walls, and forcing Minnesota to earn its offense the hard way.

There were times Saturday when the Gophers moved the puck beautifully through the neutral zone. Quick, direct breakouts. Forwards getting up ice. Pucks moving north before Tech could get organized.

When it worked, Minnesota looked dangerous.

But too often, particularly Sunday, those plays broke down.

A pass didn't connect. A chip up the wall failed to clear. Tech beat Minnesota's first forechecker and suddenly the Gophers were chasing the play.

There were also sequences when Minnesota appeared to have Tech's defensemen right where it wanted them, only for a quick chip or outlet pass to beat the pressure.

It wasn't all bad. The forecheck produced some excellent shifts, especially Saturday. But it was inconsistent, and Tech became increasingly effective at playing through it.

Larson acknowledged as much after Sunday's loss, pointing specifically to his team's forecheck and transition play as areas that weren't nearly consistent enough.

It's too early to know exactly what Larson's systems will look like once this team settles in. But you could see some of the ideas taking shape.

Minnesota wants to get up ice, pressure the puck, and make opponents uncomfortable.

In Houghton, Tech was often the team making Minnesota uncomfortable instead.

Of course, none of this means the Gophers were helpless offensively.

Pritchard's Saturday breakaway goal came off a terrific long pass from Axel Löfgren. Hendrickson added another through sheer persistence around the crease.

Sunday, freshman Wyatt Cullen had a golden opportunity on a breakaway, only to ring the puck off the post.

And then there was the five-minute power play in the third period.

Minnesota had struggled to get much going against Tech's penalty kill, but eventually Löfgren found Moe with a cross-ice pass, and the sophomore buried it to tie the game.

After nearly five periods of chasing the Huskies, Minnesota had a chance to steal a split.

It didn't last.

Tech scored the winner on a late power play and added an empty-netter to finish the sweep.

Former Gopher goaltender Owen Bartoszkiewicz deserves plenty of credit. The Tech goaltender stopped 58 of 61 shots over the weekend, and he was particularly sharp when Minnesota did manage to generate quality looks.

There were also some unfortunate bounces, including a Saturday clearing attempt that caught the glass stanchion awkwardly and wound up creating a dangerous opportunity for Tech, which they capitalized on.

A bounce here, a finished chance there, and maybe we're talking about a split.

But that's not the whole story, either.

Minnesota had opportunities to win these games. It also had long stretches when it wasn't doing enough to create those opportunities.

Probably the biggest takeaway from Houghton is that this Gopher team is still very much a work in progress.

That shouldn't come as a shock.

Larson has inherited a program coming off an 11-win season, and he's trying to establish a new identity with a dramatically different roster. There are freshmen getting their first taste of college hockey, transfers learning new teammates, and an entire group adjusting to a new coaching staff.

And Michigan Tech wasn't exactly interested in making that transition easy.

The Huskies played like a mature, physical team that knew precisely what it wanted to do. Minnesota, at times, looked like a group still figuring that out.

Larson's assessment after Sunday was pretty telling. He saw stretches when the Gophers were playing the right way, competing hard, and generating chances. Then he'd see stretches when they looked disjointed and disconnected.

That sounds about right.

The encouraging part is that Minnesota showed enough over the weekend to suggest there's something to build on. The Gophers weren't run out of the building. They generated chances, competed in stretches, and had opportunities to change both results.

The concerning part is that those stretches didn't last.

And against a team as disciplined as Michigan Tech, that was enough to get swept.

The Gophers now have an off weekend before heading to Duluth, where the competition won't get any easier.

Two games won't define Brett Larson's first season. But they did offer an early reminder of how much work lies ahead.

The talent is there. The effort showed up in stretches. Now comes the hard part.

Putting it all together, shift after shift, period after period, weekend after weekend.

Because if Minnesota learned anything in Houghton, it's that a few good stretches aren't going to be enough.