Gophers complete sweep of Mercyhurst

The third-ranked Golden Gophers got multi-point outings from four players during a 5-2 men’s hockey win over visiting Mercyhurst from 3M Arena at Mariucci Saturday evening.

Minnesota (17-3-2 overall, 8-1-1 B1G) remains unbeaten at 6-0-0 in the all-time series against the Lakers (2-17-3 overall, 2-10-2 AHA) thanks to a four-goal first period. Ryan Chesley net the eventual game winner as part of a career-best three-point game, while Nick Michel scored his first goal with the Gophers.

It only took nine seconds for the Maroon and Gold to get the offense going as Matthew Wood rifled a shot past the goaltender’s glove from the high slot. Connor Kurth started the play by forcing a turnover at the blue line where Wood collected the puck for Minnesota’s fastest goal of the season. A minute later, it was goaltender Liam Souliere that made a sliding pad save and stopped three more successive shots at the other end of the ice to maintain the edge as the Lakers pushed back. The lead extended to 2-0 at the 2:21 mark when Jimmy Snuggerud one-timed a perfect feed from Michel that eluded two defenders in the slot.

The scoring did not stop there as eight minutes into the period, Chesley sent a shot through traffic that slipped between the goalie’s pads. The Gophers worked the puck along the blue line where John Whipple got a pass to Chelsey at the right side and the junior fired off a quick wrister that helped the home side to a three-goal cushion. Michel stretched the margin to 4-0 at the 15:22 mark when he battled for position at the edge of the blue paint before tipping home a Chesley centering pass, scoring his first goal with the Maroon and Gold.

Mercyhurst continued to fight and with 2:17 left in the opening period, got on the scoreboard via a shot from the left boards that was deflected home. The Gophers took their 4-1 lead to the locker room following another high-octane first frame.

The second period turned out to be uneventful in terms of goal scoring, but there were plenty of chances from each side. Minnesota’s defensemen continued to jump into the play and led to shots from Chesley, Sam Rinzel, and Luke Mittelstadt that all had to be turned aside. The home team carried play and limited the visitors to just six shots during the frame as it maintained the three-goal lead through 40 completed minutes.

The Maroon and Gold started the third period the same way it did in the first as Beckett Hendrickson tucked home a breakaway after deking out the Mercyhurst netminder just 1:19 into the stanza. The freshman swiped the puck from a Laker in the defensive zone and Chesley picked it up before lifting a breakout pass onto the tape of Hendrickson. It was more sustained pressure from the Gophers’ top line, spending more than a minute in the offensive end, that forced the Lakers to come up with timely saves. Momentum stayed with the home team, but a bad turnover in its own zone led to an unassisted tally by the Lakers that closed the gap to 5-2 at the 8:28 mark before they earned the night’s first power play on the next shift.

Souliere was sharp during the penalty kill and the Gophers successfully erased the opportunity thanks to three saves. The graduate student remained poised down the stretch to shut down Mercyhurst’s attack and finished off his seventh victory by making 27 saves, the most since stopping 31 at Wisconsin. The win secured the Gophers’ seventh sweep of the season to close the non-conference portion of the schedule.