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MINNEAPOLIS — Just like the saying goes, if at first you don't succeed, try 50 more times.
That's what it took for the Minnesota men's hockey team Friday to get past Bemidji State in the first game of the WCHA playoffs at Mariucci Arena. Thanks to hot goaltending by Beavers sophomore Andrew Walsh, the Gophers didn't score the game-winning goal until their 51st shot of the game. It came in overtime off the stick of Kyle Rau and provided a sigh of relief for a Minnesota team that worked hard all night but didn't have much to show for it.
"I'm glad we won, obviously, but I liked the way we played all game long," said Gophers head coach Don Lucia. "I thought we played well. We moved the puck. We had a lot of scoring opportunities. It was going to take a rebound goal to beat them."
Minnesota's 41 shots on goal in regulation weren't enough to end the game after 60 minutes, although the Gophers nearly escaped Friday with a 1-0 win. With only 38 seconds remaining in the third period, Bemidji State's Brance Orban beat Gophers netminder Adam Wilcox to even the score. The Beavers pulled Walsh for an extra attacker and it paid off in the final minute.
The late goal was deflating to the Gophers, who had just one goal to show for their 41 shots in regulation and came within 38 seconds of taking a 1-0 series lead.
"We just talked about, 'You know what, this is all part of it this time of the year,'" Lucia said of the late goal. "It's a fine line. There's not that much of a difference when a goaltender can be the equalizer. They were opportunistic the way they played. We had a lot of good looks tonight."
Indeed, there were plenty of scoring chances and missed opportunities for the Gophers on Friday. That was often due in part to Walsh, who made 49 saves on 51 shots — including a key save on Seth Ambroz in overtime to keep the game knotted at 1-1.
Other times, Minnesota simply couldn't get a stick on the puck in time to make a play. A bouncing puck here, a blocked shot there; it added up for the Gophers.
"Things went our way a little bit," said Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore. "It was one of those games that you felt as it was going on when we scored that goal that good things could happen for us. But again, don't take anything away from them. Are you kidding me? They had 50 shots and they pushed the pace. They played hard. That's a hard-working team."
When it counted most, Rau was finally able to best Walsh on his team's 51st shot of the evening. The Gophers sophomore collected his own rebound and buried the game winner into the back of the net with 6:42 remaining in overtime.
"We knew that was going to be the kind of goal that would decide the game one way or the other. It wasn't going to be some flashy play with the way both goalies were playing," Rau said. "We knew that if we kept putting the puck on net, we'd eventually get another one in. Hats off to Walsh though, he played a heck of a game for them."
Come playoff time, a hot goaltender can be the worst enemy for a team like the Gophers, a highly ranked school hosting a foe with a lesser record. Walsh almost was Minnesota's kryptonite Friday. But Rau's 15th goal of the season sent Minnesota into Saturday's game needing a win to advance to the WCHA Final Five.
It wasn't easy, but 51 shots later, the Gophers had their victory.
"We knew the whole game we were outplaying them," said Gophers defenseman Ben Marshall, who scored the game's first goal at the 6:56 mark of the second period. "We figured let's just keep doing what we're doing and the bounces will come our way."
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