December 6th, 2024: Nathan Airey picked up a 32 save shutout in the Gophers’ 6-0 win over Michigan on Friday.
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Minneapolis, Minn – The Gophers have opened countless games this season with as many shots and chances as they did on Friday night against Michigan. This time, the only difference was they were rewarded for it.
The boys of maroon and gold fired 21 first period shots on the graduate student goaltender Logan Stein. They were rewarded with three goals on 5.1 expected goals, according to what I tracked. The Gophers only allowed five shots in the first period.
“I mean, we’ve had a lot of good starts this year too,” Gophers head coach Bob Motzko said. “You know, we’ve fallen down, obviously, a handful of times. And you guys have something to write about to be critical on us. I know. We try not to give you much, but it was a terrific start. We were going and we put a lot of pressure on them. The right guys got the puck in the right spots.”
Matthew Wood opened the scoring for the Gophers which was followed up by Jimmy Snuggerud just under a minute later. Aaron Huglen made it a 3-0 game with around four minutes left in the first period.
It wasn’t just the shots or the scoring chances though, the Gophers put a ton of pressure on Michigan’s defense and were attacking hard on the forecheck. This caused havoc and defensive zone turnovers which led to many chances.
“Yeah, we worked on that at practice this week,” Wood, who scored two in the game, said on having a strong forecheck. “We watched video on it and were able to, you know, jump in on the forecheck really early, and catch them off guard a bit.”
Wood, the Junior transfer from Uconn, opened the scoring in the second after a nice pass from Oliver Moore in the slot. It was Wood’s second of the game and sixth of the season. He now has six goals, 14 assists, and 20 points in 17 games this year.
Moore finished the game with three assists. He has four goals and ten points in his last seven games now. The sophomore forward has five goals and ten assists in 17 games this season.
August Falloon and Connor Kurth picked up the goals following Wood’s second of the game and helped the Gophers to a 6-0 win over Michigan. The Gophers are now 14-2-1 on the year, and Michigan is now 10-4-1.
Most of the time when a team outscores their opponents by six goals in a game we don’t usually talk about the goaltender. But Nathan Airey was terrific tonight.
The Sophmore goaltender from Cochrane, Alta., stopped all 32 shots he faced for his first collegiate shutout. He improved to 9-0-1 on the year and 11-1-1 in his career.
“Yeah, I mean, I think we had more blocked shots than I had saves. So that’s a big part of it, too, right? But no, it feels good. Feels good to get the first one.”
You would think that only facing five shots in one period is something that can cause you to stumble or get you away from your game, but that wasn’t the case for Airey. He made 13 saves in the second period and 14 saves in the third period.
“Nothing really changes for me,” Airey said on the mindset. “Just staying focused in the game. You know, going to my corner and getting water, it doesn’t really change for me. Our team was doing good but I had to keep it up, just in case.”
Airey has had times this year where he has looked like himself and others where he was at the next level. Tonight was one of those nights, despite the score.
“Yeah, he looked very good in there,” Motzko said on Airey. “He’s been steady all year and then he’s had a couple of these where he looks a little different and tonight looked a little different. Great game for him.”
As soon as the buzzer sounded on the Gophers’ 6-0 win, Liam Souliere jumped over the board and rushed to get the puck for Airey. The Graduate student the Gophers got from Penn State before the year, played in 84 games for the Nittany Lions before coming to the Gophers.
He trails only Peyton Jones (133) for the most in program history and recorded 39 wins with Penn State which ranks second behind Jones. Souliere also has the second-highest winning percentage behind Jones in the school’s history.
Souliere is a veteran college goaltender and the perfect guy for Airey to learn from and pick up habits and tricks from. That is exactly what Airey is doing. Following the win Airey called Souliere his best friend.
“I mean, we’re best friends. Like, he ran over to me and just yelled congrats,” Airey said on Souliere. “That guy has got a lot of emotion, right? Compared to me, I’m not as emotional as he is, but it’s just really cool to have somebody like that. A fifth-year who came in and knows what it’s all about and is here for me, and I’m here for him as well.”
Huglen got injured in the second period and did not return to the game. Motzko was asked if he is worried about any injuries from this game. He responded by saying yes.
Sam Rinzel blocked a shot late in the third period and was having trouble staying on two feet until the final buzzer. It doesn’t seem to be serious though. Just a bad place to take a shot, high on his leg. We will see the status of the two forwards for the Gophers’ 5:00 p.m. game against Michigan on Saturday.