Both teams badly needed the win, for very different reasons.
Minnesota entered Friday night on a four-game home losing streak in the wake of a sweep by last-place Michigan Tech; Minnesota-Duluth had just started to dig out from a disastrous first half with a three-point weekend against Colorado College.
Friday, Minnesota exploded for three goals in a four-minute span during the second period, then hung on in the face of a furious Minnesota-Duluth rally for a crucial 4-3 win at Mariucci Arena.
“I don’t know if I’d call it a must-win,” said Minnesota head coach Don Lucia. “The important thing was playing well and playing hard, and I thought we did that tonight.”
“We basically gave them a couple of goals [in the second period],” said downcast UMD head coach Scott Sandelin. “It’s one of those things where [we] fell asleep for a while, and you just can’t do that.”
Minnesota (19-9-0, 12-7-0 WCHA) got the eventual game winner from defenseman Nate Hagemo, the Gophers’ best player Friday. His slapshot from the point beat UMD netminder Josh Johnson (27 saves) cleanly to make it 4-1 at 12:12 of the third period, but the Bulldogs scored twice in the final three-plus minutes to make a game of it.
Minnesota-Duluth (10-12-5, 8-10-3 WCHA) had overcome a two-goal deficit to tie CC last Friday, but this time, Hagemo’s goal was one too many for the Bulldogs to erase.
“It feels good to win again,” said Lucia. “I thought our kids played great.”
With the Gophers leading 3-1 after a dominant second period, the Bulldogs mounted some offense nine minutes into the third, when Marco Peluso — UMD’s offensive star with two goals and an assist — nearly changed the tenor of the contest.
He pushed the puck wide of the net on a two-on-one, then lifted a wrister into the chest of Kellen Briggs (29 saves) seconds later. Tim Stapleton then had a backhand shot on a partial breakaway two minutes later, but fired into Briggs’ feet.
Minnesota seemed to seal the deal with the goal from Hagemo, but Bryan McGregor pulled the Bulldogs within 4-2 at 16:56, picking up a loose puck after another Peluso shot and jamming it home on the back side.
The Gophers promptly took a trip by Kris Chucko while breaking up another UMD rush, giving the Bulldogs a chance. Peluso made them pay, taking a cross-ice pass from McGregor and blasting a slapshot inside the right post as Briggs slid across the crease.
Peluso’s second goal of the game and 14th of the season made it 4-3 Minnesota with less than two minutes remaining. Johnson left the ice with a minute and a half to go, but UMD was unable to get the tying goal despite a flurry of sticks in front of Briggs.
“That line [Peluso’s] has been awesome,” said Sandelin. “We need more than that, though.”
A late-arriving crowd didn’t fill up the stands until near the end of the first period, but even the latest of the laggards didn’t miss the fireworks.
The first period featured five power plays, but no scoring. The best opportunity of the frame came off the stick of UMD captain Evan Schwabe, whose stuff from the edge of the crease was blocked by Briggs.
Action opened up in the second. For Minnesota, a Ben Gordon pass across the high slot gave Derek Peltier an open look at the net, and Peltier fired his slapshot high off the inside of the right post to make it 1-0 Minnesota at 2:53.
The Bulldogs responded immediately, as a clearing attempt ended up on the stick of Peluso, who unleashed a shot through a partial screen that beat Briggs to his blocker side at 3:59.
But Minnesota continued its outburst less than a minute later, Skating two-on-one with Garrett Smaagaard after a giveaway in the UMD zone, Ryan Potulny drew Johnson to one side before feeding Smaagaard across the slot. With the whole net open, Smaagaard made no mistake for his sixth goal of the year at 4:52.
The Gopher onslaught continued at 6:33. On a delayed penalty, the Gophers swarmed the Bulldog net, leaving captain Judd Stevens wide open at the back door. Off a Barry Tallackson pass, Stevens slung the puck underneath Johnson for his second goal of the season and a 3-1 Minnesota lead.
Stevens’ goal was Minnesota’s third on its first six second-period shots, and at least two of the three goals could be chalked up to defensive lapses.
“We just made bad decisions [in the second period],” said Sandelin. “You can’t take turnovers like that against good teams.”
Briggs stopped UMD from narrowing the lead to one again midway through the period. After Minnesota’s Andy Sertich rang the post at the Bulldog end, play switched sides and Peluso got Briggs down on a wraparound, but the sophomore netminder flashed his glove high to stop the point-blank shot, setting up the third period and the Bulldogs’ almost-but-not-quite rally.
Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth rematch Saturday night at Mariucci.
