Michael Shibrowski makes most of rare start, blanks Minnesota State

Published Nov. 16, 2013 9:44 p.m. ET

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MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota goalie Michael Shibrowski had to wait more than a year in between starts.

The senior made sure the wait was worth it.

Shibrowski stopped all 25 shots he faced Saturday to help the Gophers earn a 3-0 victory over visiting Minnesota State to complete the two-game sweep. It was Shibrowski's first start since Oct. 19 of last year and his first career shutout.

It also happened to come one day after his birthday.

"I guess I owe the guys for that," Shibrowski said after the win. "It was one of the better presents I got this year."

Shibrowski entered last season as one of two candidates for the Gophers' starting goalie job. Head coach Don Lucia alternated between Shibrowski and Adam Wilcox for the team's first few series of the year. As Shibrowski struggled -- he gave up four goals on 14 shots against Michigan Tech -- and Wilcox shined, the decision became easy for Lucia. Wilcox started every game for the rest of the season as Shibrowski watched from the bench as the team's backup.

Before Wilcox took over as the everyday goalie last season, Shibrowski played 60 minutes just once and made two starts as well as one relief appearance. His last action of the season came on Jan. 12 against Alaska Anchorage when he played 7:53 at the end of the game to spell Wilcox.

The senior from Andover wasn't sure this opportunity would ever come again. But as Lucia and the coaching staff told Shibrowski on Saturday morning that he'd start against Minnesota State, he was appreciative of the chance.

"You can't say enough about what Adam's done for us and how well he's played," Shibrowski said. "I was just kind of waiting and seeing. It worked out that I got to play tonight. I'm just thankful for that opportunity."

Minnesota gave Shibrowski a 1-0 cushion as freshman defenseman Jake Bischoff scored 6:20 into the first period on a centering pass from fellow freshman Hudson Fasching. That allowed Shibrowski to breathe a bit, but it appeared later in the period that Minnesota State evened the score. However, Mavericks forward Bryce Gervais' goal was waved off after it was determined he hit the puck in with his hand.

Shibrowski saw what happened and alerted the referee near him immediately. The officials reviewed the goal and disallowed it, which proved to be a huge swing in momentum for Minnesota in the first period.

"It's kind of one of those things, you never know what the ref's going to call. I tried to alert him to it as calmly as possible," Shibrowski said. "It was good for our team. If they would have gone 1-1 there, all of a sudden it would have been a different game."

Shibrowski stopped six total shots in the first period and 11 more in the second to keep it a 1-0 Gophers lead after two periods. He needed just eight more saves in the third period, and was given more breathing room thanks to goals by Tom Serratore and Hudson Fasching, en route to his first career shutout.

After the final horn sounded, Shibrowski's teammates surrounded him at the net. It might not have been his birthday anymore, but Saturday was certainly Shibrowski's day.

"Guys love him. He's a tremendous teammate," Lucia said. "He's a guy that even though he hasn't played much, he works as hard as anybody on our team, stays after practice, takes shots from the guys. The guys were excited for his start tonight. I thought they would be, and I thought we played a little bit better and tighter defensively tonight in front of him than what we did last night."

It remains to be seen how many more starts -- if any -- Shibrowski will get this year. Saturday's game was a memorable one, though, for the senior who began his career at Colorado College before transferring home to Minnesota.

All the hours of practice, all the shots taken from his teammates during the week, all the months he waited for another start, they were all worth it for Shibrowski.

"Hockey's kind of a funny game," he said. "You never know what's going to happen."

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