Bjugstad, Gophers get a big plus to close regular season

BEMIDJI, MINN. — Nick Bjugstad's weekend in Bemidji was certainly memorable.

One night after wrongly being the goat in an overtime tie, the Gophers freshman center was the unquestioned hero on Saturday.

Bjugstad's goal 20 seconds into overtime enabled the Gophers to edge Bemidji State 3-2 at the sold-out Sanford Center.

The 6-4, 204-pound Bjugstad tipped in a shot by Cade Fairchild as two Beavers tried to contain him.

"We were battling in front of the net and it went in," Bjugstad said.

The victory was the Gophers' first in eight overtime games this season (1-1-6) and extended their unbeaten streak (5-0-2) to seven games. Earlier in the night, they clinched fifth place in the WCHA standings when Wisconsin beat Colorado College, their closest pursuer, 3-1.

The Gophers will play seventh seed Alaska Anchorage next. Their best-of-three first-round WCHA playoff series will start Friday at Mariucci Arena. The Seawolves split with the Gophers in the same building in late January, losing the first game 5-1 but winning the second 1-0.

The penalty helped the Beavers score a power-play goal with 19 seconds left in the third period to tie the score 3-3.

"I was pretty disappointed in myself for taking that penalty last night," Bjugstad said. "I was thinking about it. I felt I had to do whatever it took [Saturday]."

He did, scoring his seventh and eighth of the season. He had a game-high seven shots on net. He was a force.

Bemidji State (12-16-6, 8-14-6) took a 2-0 lead on goals by Jeff Jubinville in the first period and by Aaron McLeod in the second.

Bjugstad's first goal with two minutes left in the middle period started the Gophers' comeback.

Mike Hoeffel's power-play goal for the Gophers with just over five minutes left in the third period tied the score at 2-2. Bjugstad had one of the assists.

"[Nick] is starting to get a better feel for college hockey," Lucia said. "He and Hoff seem to play well together -- two big, strong guys who are hard to contain."

The Gophers outshot Bemidji State 47-31, but junior goalie Dan Bakala was sharp with a career-high 44 saves.

Just before Hoeffel's goal, he stopped Nate Condon at the edge of the crease. "I started to wonder, when [Condon] had that breakaway and the goaltender made a big save," Lucia said.