Gophers men’s hockey team skates to a 3-3 draw with Michigan St.; Spartans take shootout

Jimmy Snuggerud scored twice and helped the No. 4/3 Golden Gophers men’s hockey team rally for a 3-3 tie on the road at No. 2 Michigan State inside Munn Ice Arena Saturday night.
Minnesota (19-6-3 overall, 10-4-2 B1G) fell behind three times in the Big Ten Conference series finale and responded each time against the league-leading Spartans (20-3-3 overall, 11-2-3 B1G), who claimed the extra point by winning a shootout.
The Gophers had the first chance of the night as an Erik Påhlsson shot snuck behind the MSU netminder but was cleared off the goal line before Snuggerud could get there in the game’s first minute. The Spartans pushed back and rang a shot off the crossbar and went to a man advantage when the visitors were called for too-many-men on the ice 5:35 into the frame. Minnesota got sticks in lanes and blocked shots in front of goaltender Liam Souliere to erase the early power play. Souliere remained sharp in net and stopped a pair of chances in tight which allowed his offense to maintain forechecking pressure. MSU found the opening tally on a one-timer from the point after winning an offensive-zone faceoff with 3:49 left in the period and the Gophers trailed 1-0 at the first intermission.
Following a similar script to Friday night, the second period featured a flurry of five goals, including a pair from Snuggerud that pulled the Maroon and Gold even each time. After a giveaway early during the frame, Souliere shut down a Spartan chance before Matthew Wood tested the goalie from the faceoff dot. Minnesota finally broke through at the 5:58 mark as Sam Rinzel started a rush up the ice and dropped a pass off to Snuggerud. The junior collected the puck in the high slot and snapped home the tying goal off the left post. As they did the prior night, the Spartans answered right back and regained the one-goal cushion less than two minutes later via a deflected shot.
The tenacity of Brodie Ziemer behind the net paid off as the freshman battled to keep possession of the puck that eventually fell loose near the left post at the 10:20 mark and Minnesota found another equalizer. Snuggerud was persistent and charged to the spot, getting his stick to the puck first and chipped home his second of the night over the goalie’s pad. The tie was short lived as the Gophers got pinned inside their own zone and MSU moved ahead, 3-2, with 5:33 remaining in the middle stanza, scoring on a scramble in front of the net.
As the period reached the final two minutes, Minnesota earned its first and only power play and converted with just 15.2 seconds showing on the clock. Jimmy Clark’s attempt from the right circle went wide but bounced to a spot where Luke Mittelstadt jumped into the play and had his shot ramp off an MSU stick and over the goal line, sending the teams back to the locker room deadlocked, 3-3.
The Maroon and Gold had the legs moving to begin the final stanza and forced the Spartans to defend as each side searched for the critical go-ahead tally. Snuggerud came inches away from the hat trick on a 2-on-1 with Ryan Chesley, but his shot was denied. MSU nearly caught the Gophers on a bad line change only to be bailed out via a Souliere stick save as the third frame reached the middle stages with the home team on the attack. Neither of the nation’s top teams could break the tie in the final stretch, sending it to overtime for the second time in four games between the two this season.
Chances were available for both sides in the extra session. It was Souliere that delivered his best save of the night in the closing seconds of overtime stopping a one-timer from the bottom of the circle. Mittelstadt generated a final chance at the buzzer but was slashed to the ice and the game officially ended in a draw. The Spartans went 2-for-3 in the shootout and Minnesota failed to convert either of its two chances to drop the extra point towards the B1G standings and are now five behind MSU.