Gopher hockey earns point, falls 3-2 in OT at Notre Dame

The No. 10 Gopher men’s hockey program saw its luck at Compton Family Ice Arena finally run out on Saturday night as Minnesota rallied in regulation but fell 3-2 to the Irish in overtime.

The Gophers (15-11-0 overall, 10-6-0-1-2-0 Big Ten) had their five-game winning streak against Notre Dame snapped while the loss also snapped a seven-game winning streak and eight-game unbeaten streak at Compton Family Ice Arena. Saturday’s loss was Minnesota’s first at the venue since falling to the 2-1 to the Irish in overtime in the Big Ten tournament semifinal on March 16, 2019.

Notre Dame (18-8-0, 10-6-0-5-1-0) jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period with tallies from Max Ellis at 4:30 and Trevor Janicke at 16:45.

The Gophers chipped away over the next 40 minutes with early goals in both the second and third periods. Ben Meyers scored his 11th of the season at 1:27 of the second period with assists from Jackson LaCombe and Matthew Knies. Bryce Brodzinski brought the game back to even with his 11th of the year at 1:23 of the third off feeds from Ryan Johnson and Mike Koster.

With no victor in regulation, Landon Slaggert picked up the overtime winner for Notre Dame just 32 seconds into the added frame.

Justen Close made 20 saves in goal for the Gophers, moving to 3-3-0 on the year. Ryan Bischel picked up the win with 24 saves. Minnesota held a 26-23 advantage in shots.

Noteworthy
Minnesota closed out the weekend with four out of a possible six Big Ten points in the series, picking up three with Friday’s 5-1 win and adding one with Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss.

Coach’s Comments
“We played our tails off, I’m proud of our guys,” Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. “Since Christmas we’ve been playing awful good, and we did it again tonight. We just fell one goal short on the road…I give our guys a ton of credit.”

Next Up: Home Series with the Spartans
Minnesota continues the 2021-22 campaign next week at 3M Arena at Mariucci, hosting Michigan State for a Big Ten series. The action gets underway on Friday, Feb. 4 at 7:00 p.m. CT (TV: Bally Sports North; Stream: B1G+/Bally Sports; Radio: 1130 KTLK/103.5 FM) with the finale scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 5 at 5:00 p.m. CT (TV: Bally Sports North; Stream: B1G+/Bally Sports; Radio: 1130 KTLK/103.5 FM). The Gophers have won seven straight over Michigan State including a two-game sweep of the Spartans in East Lansing earlier this year. 

Courtesy: University of Minnesota Sports Information