MINNEAPOLIS — Zach Budish is finally starting to feel like his old self again and riding a stationary bike might be one big reason why.
Budish, the Minnesota Gophers' redshirt sophomore, has been spending extra time riding the bike in recent weeks working on his conditioning. The workouts had an effect on his legs and it's showing on the ice.
Budish scored two first-period goals and Nick Bjugstad added a power-play goal as No. 7 Minnesota beat Bemidji State 3-0 on Friday. Budish has four goals in the past two games and helped the Gophers (20-11-1, 16-7-0 WCHA) stay on top of the conference standings at the start of a critical weekend series.
"I think it's working," Budish said of riding the bike. "Obviously I've played well the last couple of weekends. And I feel a little bit lighter out there. I don't know if that's 100 percent it, but I think it's helped a little bit. And anything you can do to improve your game a little bit, whether it's on or off the ice, I think you've got to do it."
Budish, who now has 10 goals to go with 17 assists, has played in all 32 games this season for Minnesota, coming off his second knee surgery. The big forward missed his senior season of hockey in high school after injuring his knee playing football. Then after a strong freshman season for the Gophers, he played in only five games last season before another knee injury.
He's been consistent all season while playing on the top line with Bjugstad and freshman Kyle Rau, but he's picking up his play recently as Minnesota fights to stay on top of the conference standings.
"He's had a good year," Gophers coach Don Lucia said. "Let's face it. What has he played, one year of hockey in three, basically? So this is his second one and he's getting better as the year goes on. He's making some plays and he's getting rewarded."
With Minnesota needing every point it can get with three weekends remaining in the regular season, Budish opened the scoring Friday by tipping in a shot from the blue line from defenseman Mark Alt just one minute into the game. Eight minutes later, Budish cleaned up a rebound in front of the Beavers' goaltender to give the Gophers a 2-0 lead before Bemidji State had even registered a shot on goal.
The work on the bike has helped Budish's legs, but time has helped too.
"ACL surgery is a pretty major deal so it takes a while," Budish said. "You get cleared to play after seven months or so, but it's really nine months to a year before you feel 100 percent and you know you've got all that strength back. I think I've gotten better here the second half."
The Beavers didn't record their first shot of the game Friday until 11:35 into the game. Minnesota outshot Bemidji State 36-13 and Kent Patterson finished off his seventh shutout of the season, a Gophers record.
Minnesota didn't commit a penalty and dominated from start to finish to earn a big Friday victory. Coming into the weekend, the Gophers were 8-7-0 on Fridays and 11-3-1 on Saturdays. They were 1-6 in their last seven Friday WCHA conference games and were swept last weekend in Denver for the first time all season.
"We really haven't done the best on Friday nights, so it's pretty huge to come up with a win tonight and I think we'll come out hard tomorrow," Bjugstad said.
Budish, Bjugstad and the Gophers need a strong finish to ensure their postseason positioning, but they certainly made a believer out of Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore.
"They outworked us. They outskilled us. That's just a great hockey team," Serratore said. "We had our hands full tonight. We really did. And you saw, we just couldn't get anything going. We tried to get guys going to the net. We tried to get some second or third shots, we just couldn't penetrate and their defensemen did a great job. I thought they backchecked unbelievably tonight. They picked up our guys away from the puck and they played possessed. Give Minnesota all the credit. They were, to me, a National Championship caliber team tonight. That's how good they are and we just never could get it going."
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