Gophers defenseman Mike Koster emerges as key piece for team's postseason hopes

Trailing by three goals in a building in which it had won only once in the previous nine games, the Gophers men's hockey team was looking for a spark on Feb. 19 in the series finale at Penn State. Coach Bob Motzko even suggested to his players during the first intermission that it was time to either start the plane or start playing.

Enter Mike Koster.

The sophomore defenseman collected a pass inside the blue line, walked toward the goal, faked a forehand shot to get goalie Oskar Autio to commit, stickhandled around the flailing Autio and tucked the puck into the net on his backhand.

The highlight-reel goal cut Penn State's lead to 3-1 in the second period and jump-started the Gophers in their 6-4 win and series sweep at Pegula Ice Arena, a venue in which they had been outscored 40-20 from 2018 through 2021.

"When Koster scored that goal — it was a pretty goal, it was a fun goal — you just saw our bench go, 'OK, we're back,' '' Motzko said. "And we started playing hockey.''

They're still playing hockey and doing so as Big Ten regular-season champions. On Saturday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci, the Gophers (23-11) will face Penn State (17-19-1) in the conference tournament semifinals. The No. 2-ranked Gophers were idle last weekend with a bye into the semifinals while the Nittany Lions, Notre Dame and Michigan won best-of-three first-round series. A victory would advance the Gophers to the Big Ten title game next Saturday at Mariucci.

Minnesota has won eight consecutive games, and Koster's steady play has been a contributing factor. The 5-10, 180-pounder from Chaska has three goals and 11 assists this season, and he's on a three-game point streak, with that momentum-turning goal at Penn State, two assists in the 5-0 win over Wisconsin and a goal in the 8-0 blasting of the Badgers.

The Gophers havea deep and talented defensive corps, including Jackson LaCombe, a second-team All-America selection last year; Brock Faber, a 2022 Olympian, and Ryan Johnson, a first-round NHL draft pick. But Koster's play has been just as important, especially when the Gophers went 5-0 while Faber was with Team USA in the Beijing Olympics. Motzko is quick to put Koster in the same class as that trio.

"We saw him do it last year with World Juniors,'' Motzko said, referring to the absence of Faber, Johnson and LaCombe in 2021. "He just jumped to the front of the bus and said, 'OK, I'm here.' ''

Koster, a fifth-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019, sees a united group on Minnesota's blue line, a collection that's pulling the rope in the same direction.

"Up and down our blue line, the talent is awesome,'' he said. "The best part of it in practice is we're all competitive and we all try to make each other better. They have a professionalism about them. They're organized, and they come in with a purpose.''

The Gophers' purpose now is to keep their roll going. They're 13-3 since the calendar flipped to 2022, and a win over an aggressive Penn State team will put them one step away from a repeat Big Ten tournament title.

"We're a really highly-skilled team, and we love playing in the offensive zone. The biggest thing is they love playing in the offensive zone, too,'' Koster said of the Nittany Lions. "… It comes down to the little things — blocking shots, getting pucks out.''

In Koster, Motzko sees a player who's built for the postseason, one who elevates his game as the stakes increase — as he did on that Saturday last month at Penn State.

"He's got a little mean streak in him and a high-compete level. As these games have amped up and we've been in important games, he feeds off that,'' Motzko said. "… His best hockey's still in front of him. That's what's great. He's got the skill and the hands and the thought process, but he's got an inner toughness, and I think in big games it rises up.''