MINNEAPOLIS -- Last year's Gophers men's hockey team nearly personified the sports cliche that preaches how defense wins championships.
Minnesota ranked third in the nation during the 2013-14 season in scoring defense, allowing just 2.10 goals per game. That stingy defense was a big reason the Gophers advanced to the national title game before falling to Union in the championship.
Now, as Minnesota has limped to a 12-9-3 record entering this weekend's home series against Ohio State, a glance at the defense will indicate how the Gophers got to this point. Though coach Don Lucia's team is averaging the 10th-most goals per game (3.42) in the nation, Minnesota is surrendering 2.71 goals a night -- 36th in Division I.
Why the drastic change in the defensive prowess from one year to the next?
"Looking at our struggles this year, it kind of all comes down to making little itty bitty mistakes and little details to the game that we're maybe not doing," said Gophers senior forward Travis Boyd. "You don't think something as little as not getting a puck out of the zone or losing a faceoff or blocking a shot has anything to do with it, but I think this year our mistakes like that are little details that we're not really doing too well that are really hurting us.
"Maybe it didn't hurt us as much last year and it wasn't as evident, but it just goes to show that to win a game, it takes doing a bunch of little things right."
Boyd wasn't the only Gophers player to note his team's lack of shot blocking this year in comparison to last year's squad. A year ago, players seemed more likely to dive in front of a puck or sacrifice their body to block a shot. This year, not as much.
Minnesota as a team has blocked 289 shots in 24 games, an average of just over 12 blocks per night. During the 2013-14 season, the Gophers averaged 13 blocks per game. Two of Minnesota's top three shot blockers from that team -- Justin Holl (63 blocked shots) and Jake Parenteau (42) -- were seniors last season.
One blocked shot per game might not sound like a big deal, but it can make at least some difference in a 10th-ranked defense compared to the 36th-best unit. That disparity is somewhat of a microcosm of what's been different with the Gophers during their disappointing 2014-15 season.
"For one, we've got to be more desperate to block shots," said senior Seth Ambroz. "Last year we had so much success when we'd take a bullet for the guy next to us. Right now, the effort's not what we want it to be. A lot of pucks are getting through to (goalie Adam) Wilcox. I think that's one of the biggest things for us defensively is being able to block some shots and do those little things that will help win games."
Part of the dropoff in defense this year can be traced to Wilcox, who was stellar as a freshman and sophomore. Last year he was named the Big Ten's Player of the Year as well as the conference's Goaltender of the Year as he posted a save percentage of .932 and a goals-against average of 1.97.
Those numbers heading into this weekend are now .901 and 2.67, respectively. After having some of the best statistics by a goalie in program history a year ago, it's been tough for Wilcox to replicate that success. His teammates take some of the blame, too, but it's evident the junior netminder hasn't been on the same level as he was one year ago.
"I think it's a combination," Lucia said. "I think Adam would probably like to have a couple back. We have to do a better job of maybe blocking a few shots that we are in a position to do so. It could be getting the puck out. . . . Like anything, it's a team game and you all have to take some part of the responsibility when you give up too many goals."
The Gophers allowed four or more goals just six times in 41 games last season and were 1-3-2 in those instances -- including the 7-4 loss to Union in the national championship. Through 24 games this season Minnesota has matched that total with six games in which it has surrendered four or more goals. The Gophers' record in those games: 1-4-1.
In order for Minnesota to make a late-season run and potentially earn a spot in the NCAA tournament, it won't be a question of whether the Gophers can score enough goals -- it's whether they can prevent goals from being scored against them.
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