1/27 RECAP: Undisciplined Play Costs Gophers Against No. 1 Notre Dame

After a hard-fought win Friday, undisciplined play cost No. 13 Minnesota a chance to sweep the top-ranked Fighting Irish at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

The Gophers put Notre Dame on the power play six times and paid dearly. Entering Saturday having been shut out in back-to-back games following a 16-game winning streak, the Fighting Irish scored three power-play goals en route to a 4-1 win and series split.

“We took some undisciplined penalties tonight. Against a good quality team like that you can’t,” Minnesota head coach Don Lucia said. “We got down 2-rip and you’re chasing. Against them that’s not the team you want to chase the scoreboard against.

“(Notre Dame has) got the record they do for a reason so we’ll continue the learning process. It was important for us to get a win this weekend.”

Brannon McManus scored the home team’s lone goal late in the second period to get the Gophers within a goal. Skating down the ice on an odd-man rush with Rem Pitlick, he made a move around a defender and buried the puck past goaltender Cale Morris.

“Any time you can go in with any sort of momentum it’s obviously big,” McManus said about his team entering the third period. “They’re the number one team in the country and they don’t take losing easily. It showed tonight.”

It was one of only 18 shots the Gophers had against Morris, who was not tested in the same way Saturday. Jack Sadek and Mike Szmatula had earlier hit posts for Minnesota (16-13-1, 7-10-1-1 Big Ten), but Edina native Dylan Malmquist put away any hopes by scoring twice in the third period.

He took advantage of a rare gaffe by Casey Mittelstadt, who coughed up the puck for Malmquist for an easy goal 6:47 into the third period.

“They’re the number one team in the country and they don’t take losing easily. It showed tonight”

“Coming back is going to take some time, but I feel like we’re moving in the right direction,” said Malmquist.

Mat Robson got his second consecutive start Saturday with a different result. Notre Dame (20-5-1, 14-2-0-0 Big Ten) jumped out to a 2-0 lead with power-play goals by seniors Jordan Gross and Jake Evans. Gross, who hails from Maple Grove, beat Robson on the power play with 3:19 remaining in the first period to snap a 141-minute goalless drought.

“The first year has a lot of upperclassmen, a lot of veteran guys who don’t want to go past two losses in a row,” said Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson. “The determination showed up on our special teams.”

Robson finished with 26 saves as the Fighting Irish possessed the puck and made simple plays to create better chances.

Notre Dame was helped by Minnesota taking five straight penalties in the second and third periods. Several were away from the play or in the Gopher offensive zone. Twice the team was called for goaltender interference.

An opportunity to play with an extra attacker late was spoiled when Rem Pitlick and Ryan Lindgren took penalties 15 seconds apart, giving the Fighting Irish a two-man advantage where Malmquist scored.

“They had the puck a lot and when they didn’t have it they defended really well,” Lucia said. “It was an uphill swim today.”

Minnesota is off next weekend before heading to Madison for a two-game series against Wisconsin. The Gophers sit in sixth place in the Big Ten, yet are currently safely in the NCAA Tournament with six regular-season games remaining.


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