Third period blitz rallies #3 Michigan State past #1 Gopher men’s hockey 5-3

The top-ranked Golden Gophers men’s hockey team saw a two-goal lead disappear in the third period of a 5-3 loss to No. 3/2 Michigan State Saturday evening from 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Brody Lamb gave Minnesota (15-3-2 overall, 8-1-1 B1G) a 3-1 lead early in the final frame but the home side could not stop the surging Spartans (13-2-1 overall, 6-1-1 B1G), as they scored three times in a three-minute stretch and added an empty-net tally for the road win.

The Maroon and Gold had a spirited start with four shots in the first two minutes that were all blocked by MSU skaters before a backhand from John Whipple hit the outside of the right post. A turnover in the neutral zone gave the visitors an odd-man rush where goaltender Liam Souliere needed to deliver a flurry of saves to shut down the attack. The Gophers continued to defend through the middle of the frame as the Spartans maintained pressure and tested Souliere, who remained poised between the pipes.

Following an icing by MSU, the home side went to work offensively, and a Whipple shot from the point was tipped in the slot, forcing the goalie to make a quick pad stop. In the final minute of the opening frame, Minnesota earned a power play that carried into the second period as the game remained scoreless at intermission.

The Gophers were unable to convert the man advantage but stayed on the attack with Matthew Wood dancing between MSU players. He fed a pass to Beckett Hendrickson and the freshman’s one-timer sailed just over the crossbar. The Spartans picked up a loose puck at center ice, leading to a 3-on-2 and a scramble in front of the net had to be turned aside by Souliere. A penalty on the home side the next shift gave MSU its first power play where it scored via a one-timer from the right circle at the 8:07 mark to take a 1-0 advantage.

The margin was short lived as the Maroon and Gold responded less than two minutes later when Jimmy Snuggerud intercepted a pass in front of his bench and got the puck over to Brodie Ziemer. The freshman skated into the offensive zone and pulled off his patented toe-drag before wiring home a wrister to the top corner, pulling to a 1-1 tie. The speed of John Mittelstadt with the puck on his stick led to another Minnesota chance on the power play with 7:21 to play in the second period. A blocked shot from the Spartans gave the visitors a 2-on-1 look at the other end only for Souliere to deny the shorthanded bid with a pad save and the penalty time was erased.

With momentum still on their side, the Gophers took a 2-1 lead as the clock showed 4:07 left in the stanza. Mittelstadt started a rush up the right wing and fought off a check to get a pass over to Aaron Huglen in the slot. The senior split a pair of defenders and went forehand-backhand before roofing the go-ahead tally over the MSU goalie’s glove. Minnesota was able to take the one-goal cushion back to the locker room through 40 completed minutes.

In the early stages of the final frame, the Maroon and Gold got its third chance with a man advantage, and this time made the Spartans pay. Oliver Moore won a battle along the boards and found Sam Rinzel open at the point. Rinzel sent a cross-ice pass to Wood at the right faceoff dot, and he fired a shot on target that fell loose behind the netminder. Lamb fought for position near the goal crease and was rewarded for the gritty effort, burying the rebound to give the Gophers a 3-1 cushion 3:21 into the third period.

It was a battle for every inch of ice during the middle of the frame and MSU made it a one-goal game with 8:52 remaining in regulation with a perfect shot from the left circle. The Spartans dominated the next two minutes and after Minnesota failed to get a clearance on two attempts, found the equalizer on a screened shot from the point. The Gophers were forced to call their timeout to settle things down only for MSU to strike again with 6:01 to play for a 4-3 edge as it forced a turnover deep in the attacking zone. Trailing by one, Minnesota pulled the goalie with just over a minute to play, but the visitors intercepted a pass and fired the length of the ice into the empty net, picking up the 5-3 victory.

The depleted lineup ran out of energy late in the powerhouse matchup and the Gophers suffered just their second regulation loss during the first half of the season. Minnesota takes its 15-3-2 record into 2025 and leads the Big Ten Conference with 24 points.

Noteworthy

Ziemer scored the Gophers’ first goal of the game for the second time during the weekend, his third goal of the series, totaling 11 points overall … The Chaska, Minn., product has goals in back-to-back games for the third time this season, becoming the fifth skater with at least eight goals for Minnesota … Huglen recorded his fifth goal of the year and now has seven points over his last seven games, including three goals … Lamb buried his team-best 12th goal of the campaign, seventh via the power play, both of which are tied for the most in the NCAA … Snuggerud stretched his point streak to four games, one shy of his season long, with an assist and now has 24 points to pace Minnesota’s offense … Mittelstadt collected his first assist this year and first point since Nov. 14 when he scored the game winner over Bemidji State, a span of eight scoreless outings … Ryan Chesley registered his seventh assist and 12th point this season on the Huglen goal with his first point of December … After flying back to campus earlier in the morning, Wood tallied his 15th helper, which is tied with Snuggerud for the team lead, and has 21 points for the Gophers … Rinzel recorded his first point of the weekend with a power-play assist and now has eight points while on the man advantage for the year, becoming the fourth Minnesota player and one of two defensemen in the NCAA to reach the 20-point mark … Souliere allowed more than two goals in a game for the first time all season, finishing the night by making 25 saves, and still owns a 1.66 goals-against average during the campaign … Minnesota suffered its first home loss to the Spartans since Feb. 8, 2020, as it was 8-0-2 over the previous 10 meetings following Friday night’s tie.

Coach Motzko’s Comments

“We ran out of gas. I mean, you could see it and we were afraid of that,” Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. “Momentum flipped on us and that’s what we were afraid of; we were running on fumes. As disappointing as it is with the 3-1 lead, and we’re disappointed and there were mistakes in there, but our guys had a terrific first half. We’d love to go back and not turn a couple of those pucks over, but that doesn’t define what we did the first half. The rest comes at a great time for us. Rest up, recharge, get some bodies back, and let’s get back to work in the second half.”

Next Up: Home vs. Mercyhurst (Jan. 3-4)

Minnesota returns to the ice in 2025 as it hosts Mercyhurst for the final non-conference series of the season Jan. 3-4 at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Courtesy: University of Minnesota Sports Information