DETROIT — The Big Ten regular season champion Minnesota Golden Gophers moved one step closer to a conference tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as they downed Ohio State 3-0 at Joe Louis Arena in the first semifinal game of the Big Ten tourney on Friday.
Junior goaltender Adam Wilcox pitched his second shutout in his last three games, backstopping the Gophers with a stellar 39-save performance. In the process, Wilcox tied the all-time shutout record in Gophers history with his 13th, tying Kellen Briggs.
[scg_html_b1g2015]”Yeah, it’s a pretty cool feeling anytime you get up there,” said Wilcox. “But when you have a good defensive core and good team every year, you get opportunities to get shutouts. I thought it was a great way to get it. Anytime you can get a shutout in playoffs it’s a great feeling. Getting something like that was pretty cool, too.”
“Obviously, we hope that Adam can continue to look as sharp as he did tonight because I think that was as sharp as he’s looked this year,” said Golden Gophers coach Don Lucia. “I mean, really in control, and big and patient in the net.
“It was one of those nights where you look at your goaltender and say I don’t think they’re going to score one tonight. That’s how it ended up.”
“You’ve got to tip your cap to him,” said OSU captain Tanner Fritz. “He played well. A bounce here or a score early and we could probably try to get in his head a little bit, but that’s the way things go.”
The Gophers are riding a hot streak at the right time, pushing their record to 11-3-1 over the last 15 games. But it was Minnesota’s defense that rose to the occasion, turning aside shot attempts, rushes and power-play chances to increase their winning streak to three.
“[Ohio State has] gotten better every time we’ve played them,” said Wilcox. “They put a lot of pressure on us, especially in the third period. We did a good job weathering the storm. I don’t think we had a ton of turnovers, which usually results in goals. We did a good job of clearing it when we had the opportunity.”
The Gophers used a pair of even-strength goals and an empty-netter to bolster the effort their defensive corps put together.
Sam Warning put the Gophers on the score sheet at 7:51 of the second period when he took a goal-line pass from Travis Boyd and blistered it over the glove of Christian Frey for his 12th marker of the season.
The Gophers made it 2-0 at 10:45 of the third period. Taylor Cammarata threw a pass to Ben Marshall on the opposite side of the ice. Marshall fired a wrister that deflected off the skate of the Buckeyes’ Clark Cristofoli. Vinnie Lettieri, waiting on the doorstep, chipped it over the goal line for his ninth goal of the year.
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000bGkO_1fXyJ8″ g_name=”20150320-OhioState-Minnesota-LRadloff” f_show_caption=”t” f_show_slidenum=”t” img_title=”casc” pho_credit=”iptc” f_link=”t” f_bbar=”t” fsvis=”f” width=”500″ height=”375″ bgcolor=”#AAAAAA” bgtrans=”t” btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” crop=”f” trans=”xfade” tbs=”4000″ f_ap=”t” linkdest=”c” f_fullscreen=”f” f_constrain=”f” twoup=”f” f_topbar=”f” f_bbarbig=”” f_htmllinks=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”f” f_show_watermark=”f” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”f” f_up=”f” target=”_self” wmds=”llQ6QNgpeC.p1Ucz7U.f22Fbo5BPRuXHL4BJ1cFaxw7NoICa17_5Yel.oMyOd4jE6Vwlzw–” ]Ohio State’s final chance to pull close came off a Minnesota penalty with about six minutes left in the third period. OSU coach Steve Rohlik elected to pull the goalie for the extra attacker and a six-on-four advantage.
Minnesota thwarted the plan at 15:40 and put the game away with an empty-net goal when Travis Boyd fired the puck down the ice from about 160 feet and into the back of the net for his 17th of the season.
“If they’re going to get a goal, it’s cutting the lead in half, so it was a big kill for us,” said Wilcox. “I think we really have one chance to get it clear. Whenever we did get it clear, we got it out, and Boyd fortunately got it in the net to make it 3-0, and that’s a big goal. If they get a goal, it cuts the lead in half and we’re going against a team that can get goals.”
The Buckeyes poured on a furious attack in the final period but could not solve Wilcox.
“You look at their stats, third period is their best period,” Wilcox said. “I think we did a really good job just kind of weathering the storm, like I said.”
“I can’t ask for much more out of our team today,” Rohlik said. “They gave me everything they’ve got. Twenty-two shots in the third period, you know, this team is relentless.
“Like I say, I’m proud of this team. We had a good run here toward the end, and I’m even prouder of our eight seniors, what they’ve done for our program. They’ve sent this program in the right direction.”
Buckeyes goaltender Christian Frey stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced.
Minnesota will play for the Big Ten tournament championship against either Michigan State or Michigan at 8:07 p.m. EDT Saturday.
