A big win in Las Vegas is generally profitable. For the Gophers men’s hockey team, payoff came in the win column Friday.
Connor Kurth had three goals and an assist and Ryan Chesley scored twice to lead the Gophers to a 7-1 season-opening victory over Air Force in the Ice Breaker Tournament in Las Vegas.
The Gophers will play Omaha on Saturday. Omaha defeated Massachusetts 3-2 in overtime on Friday.
Kurth, who scored seven goals in each of his first two seasons with the Gophers, scored in the opening two minutes to give the Gophers, ranked No. 5 in the USCHO.com Top 25, an early 1-0 lead.
Kurth’s second goal was the first of three for the Gophers in a span of 3 minutes, 8 seconds in the second period. Chesley, who scored two goals in each of his first two seasons with the Gophers, scored to make it 3-0 before Sam Rinzel made it 4-0 midway through the second period.
Air Force scored on the power play with 5:14 remaining in the second to make it 4-1, but Beckett Hendrickson scored in the final two minutes of the second period to make it 5-1.
Kurth completed his first career hat trick in the first two minutes of the third period, making it 6-1. Less than three minutes later, Chesley made it 7-1 — on an assist from Kurth.
“There was a lot to like tonight,” Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. “We had a great transition game, and our speed really showed up at times. What I really liked was our down-low play, and we were putting pressure on [Air Force] tonight.
