Third period rally takes Gopher hockey past Notre Dame

A two-goal rally in the third period carried the Gopher Hockey program to a 2-1 win against Notre Dame on Saturday night as the Maroon & Gold heads home with five out of six points in the Big Ten series at Compton Family Ice Arena. The road showing ensures Minnesota will head to Penn State next weekend with at least a share of the conference lead.

Ben Meyers and Blake McLaughlin picked up goals for Minnesota while Brannon McManus assisted on both goals.

Minnesota (14-11-5 overall, 9-6-5-4 Big Ten) allowed just a single shot on goal in the first period for a new season low, but Notre Dame (12-12-6, 7-8-5-3) eventually broke through for an early lead when Nick Leivermann scored for the Irish at 8:01 of the second period.

Meyers found the equalizer for the Gophers at 3:34 of the third period after McManus forced a turnover that resulted in Meyers’ seventh goal of the season. The freshman forward rebounded after his six-game point streak ended on Friday night and has not held without a point in back-to-back games since mid-November.

McLaughlin, who tallied both regular-season game winners at Compton Family Ice Arena last year, picked up his third deciding goal in the venue on Saturday with a power-play goal at 6:36 of the third period. McManus added his second assist of the night while Sammy Walker also picked up an assist and now has points in 13 of the last 15 games.

With the game-winning goal coming on the power play, the Minnesota special teams unit snapped a three-game power play drought.

In goal, Jack LaFontaine picked up his seventh win of the season, making 24 saves on 25 shots to improve to 7-6-4 on the season. Cale Morris fell to 9-11-6 after making 24 saves.

Minnesota outshot Notre Dame 26-24 on the night.

Notable
Walker (27 points) and McLaughlin (21 points) both set new career highs for points in a season on Saturday night.

Up Next: Road Trip to Penn State
The Gophers continue the 99th season of Pride on Ice next weekend with a two-game Big Ten series at Penn State. The action kicks off on Friday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. CT

Courtesy: University of Minnesota Sports Information