Gophers complete sweep of Notre Dame

Brodie Ziemer’s goal with less than seven minutes to play in regulation broke a tie and helped the No. 4 Golden Gophers men’s hockey team finish off a weekend sweep at Notre Dame, winning 5-3 Saturday evening inside Compton Family Ice Arena.

Minnesota (12-2-0 overall, 6-0-0 B1G) saw a two-goal lead slip away in the second period before scoring twice in the third to remain perfect in Big Ten Conference games, handing the Fighting Irish (5-9-0 overall, 1-7-0 B1G) their sixth-consecutive loss.

Going for the sweep, the Maroon and Gold controlled play during the opening minutes and led to chances from all four of its reshuffled lines. The early pressure earned a power play for the visitors that was negated via a penalty of its own. The Gophers were unable to erase the Irish’s short man advantage as the home side struck for the opening tally at the 8:10 mark for a 1-0 lead. Minnesota stayed with its gameplan and maintained an attack, allowing it to bury the tying goal with 1:17 left in the first frame. Oliver Moore won an offensive-zone faceoff back to the point where Leo Gruba fed a pass across the blue line to Luke Mittelstadt. The junior’s shot was tipped into the back of the net by Moore and the teams went to the locker room, tied 1-1.

It was a penalty filled start to the second stanza and less than two minutes in, a Gophers’ man advantage proved fruitful as Jimmy Snuggerud rifled a shot high over the goalie’s glove. The junior collected a pass from Sam Rinzel and walked into a shot at the left circle as Minnesota took a 2-1 lead at the 1:45 mark. Snuggerud struck again six minutes later from a sharp angle along the goal line, depositing a rebound off a Ziemer shot to extend the margin to 3-1.

The Maroon and Gold attack was persistent, and all Notre Dame could do was increase the physicality. That led to a turnover in the Gophers’ end and gave the home crowd life as it scored on a backdoor feed as the clock read 5:12 remaining in the middle period. A man advantage for the Irish with 39 seconds to play during the second was costly for the visitors as the home team finished off a scramble in the crease to pull even, 3-3, after 40 minutes of action.

With momentum on its side to start the final frame, Notre Dame tested the Minnesota net where goaltender Nathan Airey shut down each chance. The Gophers moved to a man advantage at the 3:39 mark and despite shots on target, could not pull ahead. Airey continued to stand tall in goal and had to deliver a clutch glove save as the Irish used a stretch pass for a breakaway. After the defensive effort, the visitors were able to get back to work offensively and forced saves at the other end of the rink as both sides pushed for the lead.

Minnesota found its break late as Snuggerud picked up a long outlet pass and eluded a pair of Irish defenders. He got the puck back to Rinzel at the point and the sophomore took space given to him before sliding a no-look pass to where Ziemer was waiting at the bottom of the left circle. The rookie quieted the capacity crowd, burying the go-ahead goal with 6:45 remaining in the contest. The Gophers got a late man advantage, but it was the Irish that had the best look via an odd-man rush that Airey had to shut down in the final two minutes to keep the lead. Mike Koster scored into an empty net with 11 seconds to play and the Maroon and Gold skated to a 5-3 road victory.

Airey made consecutive starts between the pipes for the first time in his young career and closed the night by making 20 saves. The sophomore is still unbeaten this season at 8-0-0, winning nine-straight starts to begin his career.