11/11 RECAP: Minnesota Hangs on to Tie Michigan

Yost Arena was eerily quiet in the third period before the comeback.

Before another comeback.

For a second consecutive evening, the Gophers could not hold onto a large lead on the road against Michigan and ended up tying Saturday, 6-6.

Minnesota was ahead 4-0 in the second period, having chased Wolverines goaltender Jack LaFontaine in favor of Hayden Lavigne. The Gophers led 6-3 with under seven minutes remaining. The Wolverines (6-3-1, 2-1-1-0 Big Ten), however, were able to claw back. Tony Calderone’s second goal of the night with 1:12 remaining in regulation capped a third-period Michigan flurry.

“We gave up 10, 11 shots in the third and three went in,” said Minnesota head coach Don Lucia after the game. “Eric (Schierhorn) has played so well this year and he had a hard time finding some pucks tonight. It happens. If it was one of those third periods where the shots were 20-5 and we were getting our ears pinned back, that’s really not what happened. It was one shot deals that went in.”

The Gophers (7-4-1, 3-2-1-1 Big Ten) took an extra point in Big Ten conference play by winning a shootout 2-1 in three rounds. It was the first time in nine attempts spanning four-plus seasons that Minnesota won a shootout.

Junior captain Tyler Sheehy assisted on freshman defenseman Sam Rossini’s opening goal before minutes later scoring his third in three games. He finished with a career-high four points on Saturday and helped lead his line’s most consistent effort of the season.

“We’ve kind of been hoping for something to happen this year. We haven’t put together a weekend where we’ve been good for both nights,” Sheehy said about his line with Tommy Novak and Brent Gates Jr. “Overall, getting pucks to the net and being there is always going to help our offensive game.”

Ryan Lindgren added his second of the season to give Minnesota a 3-0 lead at the end of the first period. Novak put the Gophers ahead 4-0, kicking off a second-period goal bonanza where the two teams combined for five goals in a 4:56 span.

Calderone, Will Lockwood (shorthanded), Minnesota’s Brannon McManus and Michigan’s Jake Slaker all scored within a 3:20 of one another. A 4-0 lead became 5-3 Gophers in a blink of an eye.

Rem Pitlick, on an eight-game point streak, was fed by Sheehy and scored on a breakaway to silence the crowd other than the maroon and gold-clad visiting supporters singing the Rouser.

“I liked the fact that some of our guys that needed to score are scoring,” said Lucia. “Michigan can score. This year they’ve scored a lot more goals and can get the crowd going.”

Slowly but surely the home fans had something to cheer. Minnesota’s lead slowly evaporated as Brendan Warren and Luke Martin beat Schierhorn, who finished with 27 saves.

Seconds after Lavigne headed to the bench for an extra attacker, Calderone was left open in front of the net for a rebound and put it into the net to send Yost Arena into a loud frenzy.

“If you would have told me that we were coming in here and scoring four and six (goals each night), I thought we would have probably won two games the way Eric had played and the way we had been defended all year long,” Lucia said.

Minnesota held off a Wolverines power play late in regulation and beginning of overtime along with several close calls to keep a tie. Still, the damage was done. Having given up three goals in four games prior to the weekend, Michigan found ways both nights to get through the Gopher defense and come back from three-goal deficits for some hard earned Big Ten points.

“It’s one of those situations where you got to look at yourself in the mirror and decide whether or not you want to be a mediocre team or an elite team,” said Sheehy. “A couple leads blown and it ends up as not a weekend that we want. It’s frustrating. Let’s reevaluate this week.”

Minnesota next hosts Harvard on Friday and Saturday at 3M Arena at Mariucci. Both teams entered the weekend ranked in the top-five nationally.


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