A day after leaving St. Cloud with a loss and praise for the top-ranked Huskies, Minnesota rebounded Sunday with a 2-0 home shutout win in Minneapolis.
The Gophers defeated the No. 1 team in the USCHO poll for the first time since beating Boston College 8-1 on December 30, 2012.
Sophomore goaltender Mat Robson made 34 saves to earn his first career shutout and salvage a series split. He bested St. Cloud State David Hrenak in a goaltending battle where each seemed to one-up the other as both teams traded chances.
“Both goalies were outstanding today. That was a heck of a duel people were able to watch,” said SCSU head coach Bob Motzko, whose team’s nine-game unbeaten streak came to an end.
Darian Romanko’s early third period goal proved to be the difference when a potential St. Cloud State (13-3-3, 7-2-1-1 NCHC) tally by Mikey Eyssimont was waved off by the officials following a five minute delay with multiple reviews.
Eyssimont, having twice scored in the series opener, shot the puck into the back of the net with 3:05 remaining in the second period. An initial referee review for whether Robson was interfered with ended with a good goal call.
Minnesota (13-10-1, 4-7-1-1 Big Ten), however, successfully challenged the play for too many men. Replays conclusively showed Eyssimont came onto the ice too soon.
“The guys were pretty adamant. Before (SCSU) even scored they were yelling ‘too many men, too many men.’ I saw the replay on the screen and it was obvious to me,” Minnesota head coach Don Lucia. “Two guys who were coming off were 30-40 feet away from the bench. The other guy was already on the ice and getting involved.”
Known more for his penalty killing than his shot, Romanko said he didn’t specifically pick a spot other than shooting for the right side. His shot went over the shoulder of Hranek, who finished with 19 saves to give the Gophers the 1-0 lead.
“That’s definitely up there. It’s the best college goal I’ve scored, the biggest one too,” Romanko said about his goal, only his second of the season.
Minnesota got back Casey Mittelstadt and Ryan Lindgren, both of whom missed Saturday’s 5-2 loss due to their equipment not making it back from Buffalo in time. They went home and watched on TV, leading to Lindgren having some “biting comments for the team,” according to Lucia.
“That’s what a leader and a captain and a warrior…the guys respect that. I wouldn’t expect anything different from Ryan than to say what’s on his mind,” he said about Lindgren. “When you have your best defender back in your lineup it makes a difference. It just moves everyone down in the lineup a little bit and he plays with bite. He’s going to sell out.”
Mike Szmatula added an empty net goal for the Gophers, who end the regular season 9-3-0 in non-conference games.
Robson, being thrown into the in-state rivalry in his third career start, got help from his teammates. The Gophers blocked 20 shots.
“The culmination of it all was at the end there. You got five guys on a knee blocking shots, just eating them in the chest and they don’t have the equipment that I have. That takes balls on their part,” said Robson. “I’m just proud of our group tonight.”
Snapping a five-game losing streak against the Huskies and looking to continue taking steps in the right direction, Minnesota returns to Big Ten conference play next weekend in a home series against Michigan.
Puck drop Friday and Saturday is at 7:00 pm. Both games will be broadcast on Fox Sports North PLUS.
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