Gophers Fight Off Canisius’ 2-1 Lead With Eight Unanswered Goals In The 9-2 Win

By: Dylan Loucks |

March 23rd, 2023: After being down 2-1 the Gophers ended up scoring eight unanswered goals to walk away with the 9-2 win advancing them to the Fargo Regional final. 

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FARGO, ND – The Gophers have played the Canisius Golden Griffins once in their long history. The result was a 1-0 win where Kyle Rau scored the only goal just seconds into the game. 

The Golden Griffins struggled to start the year but completely flipped their season around during the second half. Canisius started the first half six games under .500 and were one of the worst teams in the country. They quickly turned it around and finished the second half eight games over .500. 

The Gophers got the first goal but later saw Canisius get the next two. Minnesota was able to respond with eight unanswered goals.

“That was probably the closest 9-2 game I have ever seen,” Gophers’ head coach Bob Motzko said after the game. “They were playing to their gameplan but we stuck to our gameplan and kept getting pucks deep.”

One thing about the Golden Griffins is they can’t stay out of the box. Just four minutes into the game, Markus Boguslavsky went to the box for boarding for his hit on Mike Koster. 

As time was expiring on the man advantage, Bryce Brodzinski got the puck to Koster who dished it off for Luke Mittelstadt down low. With time and patience, Mittelstadt threw one in front of the net and banked it in off Jacob Barczewski to give the Gophers a 1-0 lead. 

Connor Kurth was later put in the box for hooking which sent Canisius to the power play for the first time of the night. Only five seconds after the power play expired, Daniel DiGrande one-timed home his 12th goal of the year from a nice pass by Jackson Decker. 

The first period was not a period the Gophers liked. It looked like a repeat of their last game against Michigan. Turning the puck over and not covering guys in front. Most importantly they were trying to be way too cute. Many Gopher forwards were passing up shots to make an extra pass that turned into no shots. 

One thing the Gophers have been great all year is exiting the zone effectively. When they fail to exit the zone it usually leads to a great chance for the opposition. Ryan Chesley was a victim of failed exits for the first period and a half. His three failed zone exits led the team. The Gophers only had six failed zone entries in the first period and a half and Chesley had three of them. 

Chesley’s failed zone exit in the second period just three minutes in, lead to a goal for Canisius which gave the Golden Griffins a 2-1 lead. This goal was Nick Bowman’s 11th of the year which silenced the soldout crowd at Scheels Arena. 

Hudson Lambert held the zone and sent it to Bowman who walked into the slot and undressed Colin Schmidt before he ripped home the go-ahead goal. 

The Gophers answered about five minutes later when Brody Lamb entered the zone and one-touch passed one to Aaron Huglen who ripped home his seventh of the year and third goal in his last four games.

After being down 2-1 the Gophers ended up scoring eight unanswered goals to walk away with the 9-2 win. 

Lamb started the game on the fourth line but after a bad penalty and missed assignment on Canisius’ second goal John Mittelstadt and Schmidt didn’t see the ice much. Lamb, on the other hand, was playing great. He was rewarded with a shift with Huglen’s line and a shift with Jaxon Nelson’s line. 

It wasn’t just the offense for Lamb though, his physical presence was seen and was being used effectively. His pass to Huglen tied the game for the Gophers. 

“He’s a terrific player and he just keeps getting better and better,” Motzko said on how Lamb has been playing. “He gets overshadowed a bit but we will keep rewarding those guys they are good hockey players.”

Huglen’s line later scored the go-ahead goal ten minutes later. Rhett Pitlick, who is currently on a seven-game point streak that has included two goals and six assists, passed one to Koster down low who later saw Connor Kurth in the slot for his seventh of the year. 

Just 27 seconds into the third period, Stefano Bottini hit Jackson LaCombe up high in the corner. LaCombe went down hard and later skated off the ice. Bottini was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for head contact.

Not even a minute into the power play, Nelson fired a shot on net and Jimmy Snuggerud cashed in on the rebound. Logan Cooley picked up his 34th assist of the year on the play and 53rd point. 

Only one minute and 25 seconds later, Lamb got on the board with his fourth of the year and second in his last two games. Brock Faber and Kurth picked up the assists on the play. 

“It’s a good sign,” Gophers’ assistant coach Ben Gordon said about the Huglen line on the postgame radio show. “They are all great players. If those guys keep playing the way they are playing we will be in a good spot.”

Midway through the third period, Brodzinski thought he scored after a great line rush by Nelson. The play was ruled a goal but after review, it was determined it hit the post. But on Brodzinski’s next shift, Cooley passed one to the senior forward and Brodzinski fired one off the back bar and in for his 16th of the year. 

About a minute later, the Gophers went back to the power play in a 6-2 game. Cooley picked up the puck in the offensive zone and walked around a few guys before dishing a sweet feed to Mason Nevers in the slot to make it 7-2. 

Just 22 seconds later, John Mittelstadt got his first shift in over 15 minutes. He rushed over the line into the Canisius zone before passing one to Brodzinski who ripped home his second of the game and the two-on-one. 

Brodzinski recorded the hat trick with under a minute to go for Gophers as they walked away with a 9-2 win over Canisius. Minnesota will rest tomorrow before playing the St. Cloud State Huskies on Saturday at 5:30 central time.

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