Nov. 27, 2021: After flying by the University Of North Dakota Fighting Hawks on Friday, the Gophers will settle for another series split despite a late comeback attempt.
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Grand Forks, N.D. – A weekend full of holiday cliches resulted in a very important Gophers Friday night win. Head coach Bob Motzko can be thankful for a healthy hockey team, goalie Jack LaFontaine picked up a great Black Friday deal with the unreal defensive group in front of him, and even Bryce Brodzinski who stuffed the net with his team leading seventh and eighth goals of the season.
A historic rivalry that dates back to 1930 continued over the weekend as the Gophers traveled to Grand Forks, North Dakota, for their 299th and 300th career games against the Fighting Hawks.
Coming into the series, Grant Cruikshank currently is the only Gopher who has ever played against the Hawks in North Dakota. Cruikshank, who had spent the previous six games on the IR with an upper-body injury, returned to the lineup on Friday. The native of Delafield, Wisconsin, recorded an assist and carried a .961 xGF.
In the opening 20 minutes of game one, the Gophers couldn’t have started any better. They outshot North Dakota 14-4, scored on their first power play, killed off a Fighting Hawks power play while not even allowing a shot, and applied constant pressure to Hawks goalie Zach Driscoll.
The power play goal was Bryce Brodzinski’s seventh of the year. Blake McLaughlin attacked Driscoll forcing him to cough up a rebound and Brodzinski made him pay. “I just sort of threw my stick in there and it kind of trickled over and sat an inch over the line. It’s not a pretty one, but it’s a goal we’ll take,” Brodzinski said.
Later in the second period Jack Perbix notched his second of the year after Driscoll mishandled the puck. Driscoll came out to play the loose puck, he missed it, allowing Perbix to slip one into the empty net.
Moments later, Ryan Johnson fired a shot from the point that hit a couple of sticks and bodies along the way and found the back of the net. Two second period goals by Minnesota gave it a 3-0 lead late in the period. Which ultimately took the momentum out of the sold out Ralph Engelstad Arena.
An empty net goal by Chaz Lucius and a breakaway goal by Brodzinski were the final blows to Fighting Hawks coach Brad Berry’s team. “It was a strong game for us. Best game for our defensemen all year. LaFontaine was as strong as he can be, and it was a good win for us,” Motzko told the media following the 5-1 win.
Mark Senden’s two goals and one assist helped push North Dakota towards a series split.
Playing two games on the road in a full capacity crowd at the ‘Ralph’ is not an easy task. Many would even be happy with a series split, but not the Gophers. Minnesota flat out did not deserve to win on Saturday.
Blowing past North Dakota on Friday, many thought to see the same energy by the Gophers for Saturday’s tilt. But after recording only four, first period shots and two, second period shots, it was pretty evident this wasn’t the same Gophers team we saw the previous game.
“It was just a slow start and just not what we needed,” said Meyers. “It took us too long to find our legs, and by the time we got going in the third, it was too late.”
Trailing 3-0 late in the third period the Gophers were able to cash in on the 4-on-3 power play. The Gophers added another this time with the extra attacker. Their late third period comeback eventually fell short 3-2 against North Dakota. The Hawks slipped past the Gophers for the series split dropping Minnesota’s record to 9-7-0.
“Disappointed in how we came prepared to play tonight That’s the nuts and bolts of it,” Motzko said. “We got it handed back to us tonight. It was just hard work. That’s all North Dakota did, and in the third period we finally played.”
Jack LaFontaine made 23 saves for the Gophers while Zach Driscoll came up with 11 stops for the Fighting Hawks. LaFontaine holds a 2-1-0 record in his last three starts with a .929 save percentage and a 2.00 goals against average.
On the very first shot of the game North Dakota’s Gavin Hain tipped Senden’s low wrist shot past LaFontaine giving the Hawks an early 1-0 lead. Doubling their lead in the second period, Senden ripped one past LaFontaine on the power play, his first of two Saturday night goals. Later in the third period, Senden added another resulting in a 3-0 North Dakota lead.
On the play, Blake McLaughlin took a frustration penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct and sat in the box for the next 10 minutes. Not long after, Connor Ford took a slashing minor and sent Minnesota to the power play. Ten seconds later, Ben Meyers broke Driscoll’s shutout bid with a power play goal.
“We practice those one-timers a lot,” Senior captain Ben Meyers told the media. “We just needed pucks on net.”
Minutes later Motzko pulled LaFontaine to get the extra attacker, Chaz Lucius picked up his second goal of the series and third of the season after the scrum in front of the net. Many Gophers players looked up at the clock to only find seconds ticking away as their third period comeback fell short.
What’s Next?
Gophers returns to Big Ten play and wraps up the first half next weekend with a two-game series at Michigan.
The conference tilt starts on Friday, Dec. 3 at 5:30 p.m. CT (TV: Big Ten Network; Stream: FOX Sports App; Radio: 1130 KTLK-AM/103.5 FM).
The finale set for Saturday, Dec. 4 at 6:00 p.m. CT (TV: Big Ten Network; Stream: FOX Sports App; Radio: 1130 KTLK-AM/103.5 FM).
1. xGF is the expected value of goals for each skater given the probability of each shot and the frequency of shots.