Brody Lamb’s natural hat trick helps Gophers sweep Tommies 6-2 at the X

Brody Lamb’s natural hat trick helped the No. 5 Minnesota men’s hockey team finish off a series sweep of St. Thomas during a 6-2 victory Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center.

The Gophers (5-1-0 overall) took advantage of undisciplined play by the Tommies (1-3-1 overall) and scored three times on the power play, all off the stick of Lamb. It was the fourth-straight win for the Maroon and Gold, scoring five or more goals in all four contests.

It was the “home” team that struck first for the second-straight night, this time via a misplay in front of the Minnesota goal and scoring on a tip from the slot at the 4:19 mark. The Gophers pushed back and nearly got the equalizer as John Whipple’s shot from the point was directed just wide by Mason Nevers. Thanks to an offensive zone faceoff win, the Maroon and Gold pulled even as Ryan Chesley followed his Friday effort, scoring to tie the game, 1-1. His seeing eye shot from the point made its way through traffic with 9:18 left in the stanza.

Right after the tying goal, the Gophers drew a penalty and Erik Påhlsson rang a backhand off the post. The next power-play unit took to the ice, and it was Lamb finding the back of the net, burying a rebound off a Sam Rinzel shot. Minnesota pushed ahead 2-1 just 1:34 after getting even and held the one-goal margin through intermission.

Following an early odd-man rush by UST in the second frame, a clearance made its way to Matthew Wood and the junior rifled a shot off the left post. Wood was later cross checked in the face and the Gophers went to a five-minute man advantage and moved to a 5-on-3 when the Tommies were assessed a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct. Minnesota capitalized with Lamb blasting home his second power-play tally of the night on a perfect feed from Luke Mittelstadt. The junior completed the first hat trick of his career less than two minutes later along the goal line.

Tempers started to rise after whistles with the Gophers holding a 4-1 lead, but it was a brilliant individual effort from Aaron Huglen for the fifth goal. The senior faked his defender and twisted the netminder for a goal with 31.8 seconds on the clock. As the second period came to a close, UST was issued another five-minute major for a cross check to the face.

Minnesota did not score on the extended power play, while the Tommies put away a shorthanded breakaway four minutes into the final frame. The Maroon and Gold were unfazed by the tally and Connor Kurth made it a 6-2 scoreline, finishing off a slick passing play with linemates Wood and Jimmy Clark at the 6:57 mark. The visitors cruised to the final horn and secured their second-straight sweep of an in-state opponent.

In front of an announced attendance of 10,104, Gophers’ netminder Liam Souliere recorded 16 saves in the victory.

Noteworthy
For the second time in as many trips to Xcel Energy Center in his career, Lamb posted multiple goals, this time recording his first collegiate hat trick … It was the first natural hat trick for the Gophers since Feb. 25, 2022, when Ben Meyers accomplished the feat against Wisconsin … A night after setting a new career high in goals, Chesley added his fourth of the year and tacked on an assist for his third multi-point outing in 2024-25 … Huglen scored his second goal this season and has a point in three of the last four appearances … Kurth tied a career-long goal streak as the junior has lit the lamp in three-straight games and increased his team-best total to six, one shy of his career high for a single season … It was the first assist of the season for Mittelstadt, who has reached the 20-point mark in each of his two college hockey campaigns … Behind a two-assist performance, Wood has multiple points in five of six games as a Gopher … Rinzel stretched his point streak to six games with another multi-point effort, the ninth of his career … Påhlsson registered his first collegiate assist and has two points in his freshman season.

Coach Motzko’s Comments
“Tonight, it was special teams, and our power play needed to answer the bell,” Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. “You have to do that in a season, and we needed to get our power play going, and we got three of them tonight. I liked some maturity in our team. We kept our cool and tried to stay out of it and just play hockey.”

Next Up: Home vs. Penn State (Nov. 1-2)

Courtesy: University of Minnesota Sports Information