Kurth’s hat trick propels Gophers to easy season opening win

Connor Kurth’s hat trick helped the fifth-ranked Minnesota men’s hockey team open the 2024-25 season in dominating fashion Friday night with a 7-1 victory over Air Force inside Orleans Arena in Las Vegas during the Ice Breaker Tournament.

Aided by three goals from their blue line, including the first multi-goal performance of Ryan Chesley’s career, the Golden Gophers were in complete control from the opening faceoff. Kurth finished with a career-best four points, while four skaters had multiple points, and 11 different players reached the scoresheet.

Not even two minutes into the campaign, it was Minnesota that took a quick advantage as Kurth buried a cross-ice feed from Jimmy Clark on a 2-on-1 chance. Newcomer Matthew Wood started the initial rush to pick up the first of his three assists just 1:47 into the first period. Kurth nearly doubled the lead five minutes later as he rang a power-play shot off the left post and the ice slanted heavily in favor of the Maroon and Gold. Neither side capitalized on man advantages during the frame and the Gophers went to the locker room leading 1-0.

The Falcons came out with urgency in the second stanza but were stopped by a pair of sliding saves from Minnesota netminder Nathan Airey. It was all Gophers from there as the offense scored three times in a span of 3:08, stretching the margin to 4-0. Following the Airey save, defense turned to offense, and it was Kurth doubling the lead. Mike Koster pushed the puck ahead to the junior and Kurth sliced his way through the Air Force defense and slid the puck under the goalie’s pads.

The quick-strike offense pounced again 77 seconds later as a neutral zone turnover led to a backhand pass from Jimmy Snuggerud onto the tape of Chesley. The defenseman snapped home a shot high over the glove for the first of his two goals. The scoring continued at the 9:31 mark when Sam Rinzel skated coast-to-coast and rifled a goal off a pass from Wood and the advantage swelled to 4-0 at the midway point of the contest. Air Force got on the board late in the second as a shot from the point on the power play was tipped in front of the net with 5:14 remaining, closing the gap to 4-1.

With less than two minutes to play in the second, a perfect centering feed from Brody Lamb to freshman Beckett Hendrickson returned the Gophers’ the four-goal cushion. The puck was not on his stick for long as he found space behind the Falcons’ defense and buried the first goal of his collegiate career.

Kurth completed the hat trick two minutes into the final frame after Clark’s forecheck led to another turnover. The Gophers chased the Air Force netminder 29 seconds later as Chesley got a shot through from the point and the lead moved to 7-1. Minnesota shut down the Falcons the rest of the way and recorded the season-opening win behind a 21-save effort from Airey.

Noteworthy
The top line of Kurth, Clark, and Wood finished the night with nine points and all three skaters were a plus-5 … Kurth picked up right where he left off a season ago, when he had a career-best 21 points, and tallied the first two Minnesota goals of the season on his way to the hat trick … The Lindstrom, Minn., native posted seven goals in each of his first two college seasons and recorded the first multi-goal game of his career Friday … It was the Gophers’ first hat trick since Jaxon Nelson had three goals versus Michigan on Mar. 1, 2024 … Both Chesley and Rinzel finished last year with two goals and Chesley has already reached that total in 2024-25, while Rinzel is halfway there … Hendrickson made his first appearance in college hockey a memorable one, scoring his first goal … In his Gophers’ debut, Wood put together a multi-point outing behind three helpers … Wood joined the team via the transfer portal after leading UConn in scoring the previous two years … Clark registered a two-assist effort, the second time he had multiple points in a single game and first multi-assist performance … Snuggerud picked up his 85th career point and first assist of the campaign … Oliver Moore led the Gophers with 24 assists a year ago and tacked on his first to begin the season … Koster closed last season with a point in three of the final seven outings before tallying an assist in Friday’s opener … Lamb has now scored in each of the past two season-opening games following a two-goal effort to open last year … Huglen found the scoresheet in eight of the final 11 games in 2023-24 before adding an assist in game one of 2024-25 … Minnesota’s seven goals were the most since putting home nine during a 2023 NCAA Fargo Regional win over Canisius.

Coach Motzko’s Comments
“There was a lot to like tonight,” Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. “We had a great transition game, and our speed really showed up at times. What I really liked was our down low play and we were putting pressure on (Air Force) tonight. Connor Kurth had the big night; that line really shined.”

Next Up: Ice Breaker Tournament vs. Omaha (Oct. 12)
Minnesota meets Omaha in the championship game of the 2024 Ice Breaker Tournament Saturday night at Orleans Arena. Puck drop is slated for 9:30 p.m. (CT).

Courtesy: Gopher Sports Information