MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- (Courtesy of MTU Athletics) No. 2-ranked Minnesota scored four straight goals in the third period to come away with a 6-2 WCHA victory over Michigan Tech tonight at Mariucci Arena. The Huskies (9-8-1 overall, 6-7-1 WCHA) knotted the game at 2-all with a power play goal early in the third period before the Gophers (14-5-1, 11-3-0) controlled play the remainder of the contest.
“There’s a reason they’re on top of our league,” said head coach Mel Pearson. “They put the pressure on us and the crowd got into it.
“We didn’t do a very good job in our defensive zone, but there are some positives to take away from tonight. We were right there in the third period, and our power play scored twice.”
Minnesota opened scoring for the second straight night as Kyle Rau put home a rebound at the 7:37 mark of the first period.
It took nearly 10 minutes, but the Huskies evened things up with a power play goal. Daniel Sova rifled a shot from the point that hit a defenseman’s stick and bounced to the front of the net. Milos Gordic then fed it to Jordan Baker who buried the puck into an open net.
The teams skated into the intermission and through 12 minutes of the second period before the deadlock was snapped.
After six empty power plays in the series, the Gophers finally broke through on the man advantage to take a 2-1 lead. Erik Haula fired a shot towards the net the was redirected just outside the crease past Robinson.
Tech went on a long power play spanning the second intermission after Blake Thompson was called for contact to the head and given a five-minute major and game misconduct.
The Huskies didn’t score on the power play in the second period, but they did in the third. Sova blasted a one timer past Patterson for his fourth point of the weekend.
Just two minutes later, the Gophers regained their lead on a one timer from the left faceoff dot by Mark Alt.
The hosts scored three more times before the final horn to take the 6-2 victory and earn the series split.
Robinson made 34 saves on 40 shots for the Huskies while Kent Patterson stopped 21-of-23 Tech shots.
Tech notched both of its goals on the power play, going 2-for-4 on the man advantage. Minnesota finished 2-for-6 on the power play.
Michigan Tech will step out of conference for its next three games. The Huskies will play just once next week, traveling to Northern Michigan for a 7:35 p.m. faceoff at the Berry Events Center on Friday (Dec. 16).
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