October 20th, 2023: Gophers get incredible defense from their young d-core along with another fantastic start from their goaltender, Justen Close, in the 4-0 win over North Dakota
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Grand Forks, N.D. – In a historic rivalry that dates all the way back to the 1930s, North Dakota is still playing the exact same game, punishing the Gophers with big hits and using their physicality to spark any momentum.
Which is exactly what North Dakota did to Minnesota to open the game. Before the season started, North Dakota watched 14 of their players leave which caused them to bring in seven freshmen and seven guys from the transfer portal.
They completely overhauled their blue line and brought in eight new defensemen along with a new starting goaltender. Yet they controlled the play, settled things down, and exited the first tied with the Gophers. You can tell why they are ranked as a top-five school in the NCAA.
But it was the Gophers who got on the board early in the second period. This came after Aaron Huglen picked up a cross-checking penalty with one second left in the first period after Logan Britt flew into the cross-bar.
The Gophers killed off the penalty and picked up a near short-handed goal after Jaxon Nelson caught Brody Lamb streaking up the gut. Lamb flew into the offensive zone past two defenders and fired home his fourth of the year, tying his career high.
Exactly ten minutes later, Oliver Moore notched his first in the Gopher sweater after a ridiculous shot. Sam Rinzel and Jimmy Snuggerud picked up the two assists on the play, making it 2-0.
“That was sweet. He pulled it, I think, five feet from this way to that way,” Luke Mittelstadt said on Moore’s goal. “It was an awesome goal and he’s probably done it to me a few times in practice so I wasn’t too surprised to see it but that was a great shot.”
Moore was coming into the zone on a 3-on-2 with Nelson and Rinzel but the freshman forward decided to use the defender as a screen and fired a shot past Ludvig Persson.
“Honestly I was going to give it to Nelly on the far side,” Moore said. “But I saw a lane kind of open up, the defenseman’s stick kind of moved, and I just decided to shoot it. Obviously, it was the right decision. Good feeling for sure.”
Justen Close kept the Gophers in the game as the graduate student stopped all 25 in the win tonight. He saw 13 shots in the first period but only saw four in the second and eight in the third.
North Dakota came out firing early along with their physical play but the Gophers held the momentum down with strong defensive play in all zones and eventually turned the script on the game.
“There are two games when you play North Dakota. The first ten minutes and the next 50,” Gophers head coach Bob Motzko said. “We had to adjust on the road in the first ten we were down 7-0 in shots but in the next 50, we hunkered down and played hockey. That was an excellent team victory tonight. Close was brilliant tonight.”
With the shutout tonight, Close is now tied for third all-time in Gophers history for 11 shutouts. He tied Bud Wilkinson who played for the Gophers in 1935. Close is now two away from tying the school record which is held by Kellen Briggs and Adam Wilcox.
The Gophers eventually picked up an empty net goal in the third period with under three minutes left when Bryce Brodzinski spun around and fired a shot from outside of the offensive zone into the net for his first of the year.
Just 18 seconds later, Moore got the puck down low for Lamb who made an unreal pass to Snuggerud in the slot who fired a shot off Persson’s pad but Snuggerud picked up his own rebound and made it 4-0 which was the final blow.
The Gophers are back at Ralph Engelstad Arena tomorrow for the final game of the series. They will look to complete the sweep over the Fighting Hawks with the game starting at 6:00 p.m. and can be streamed on Fox 9+
Other notes
Close shutout the St. Thomas Tommies last game and with another shutout tonight, the 5-foot-10 goaltender has a shutout streak of 129:10.
Luke Mittelstadt said it was fun to play in this atmosphere for the first time and enjoyed how loud it was at the start, enjoyed the silence in the third period, and especially enjoyed the Gopher parents starting a chant in the stands towards the end of the game.
Ryan Chesley’s health was a question mark coming into the game but he proved he was okay with a strong game, he had six controlled zone exits.