Gophers women's hockey faces St. Thomas, needing help in WCHA title chase

GOPHERS WOMEN'S HOCKEY GAMEDAY

6 p.m. Friday and Saturday at St. Thomas

Note: Saturday's game on Fox9 Plus (TV). Both games streamed on BTN+

Gophers update: Minnesota (23-5-3, 20-3-3 WCHA) is coming off a series in which it tied Wisconsin 2-2 in the opener, with the Badgers winning a shootout, and lost 7-5 in the finale. That left the Gophers with 63 points in WCHA play, three behind first-place Ohio State. The Buckeyes finish at third-place Wisconsin on Saturday and Sunday. A sweep of St. Thomas would give Minnesota the regular-season title and No. 1 seed in the WCHA tournament if Ohio State gains three or fewer points against the Badgers. … Senior forwards Taylor Heise (23 goals, 30 assists, 53 points) and Grace Zumwinkle (22-29-51) rank second and third nationally in scoring. Heise is tied for second in goals, while Zumwinkle and linemate Abbey Murphy (22-19-41) are tied for fourth. Six other Gophers have 20 or more points. Goalie Skylar Vetter gave up a season-high six goals in the finale vs. Wisconsin. She's 20-5-3 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .919 save percentage this season.

Tommies update: St. Thomas (8-23-1, 3-22-1) is in seventh place in the WCHA standings with 10 points. The Tommies were swept 5-0 and 4-1 by the Gophers in mid-January. St. Thomas averages 1.5 goals per game and is giving up 3.47. Special teams have been an issue for coach Joel Johnson's team. The Tommies rank last nationally on the penalty kill at 76.1% (51-for-67) and on the power play at 6.8% (8-for-117). Maddy Clough (6-6-12), Anna Solheim (3-8-11) and Gabby Billing (5-5-10) are the Tommies' top scorers. Goalies Saskia Maurer (5-12-1, 2.98, .912) and Alexa Dobchuk (2-10, 4.45, .889) share the starts for St. Thomas.