Jimmy Snuggerud's hat trick sends Gophers men's hockey over Minnesota State Mankato 4-1

Friday night's opener of a home-and-home men's hockey series between No. 2-ranked Gophers and No. 5 Minnesota State Mankato featured a contrast in rosters, with Minnesota featuring 10 freshmen in its lineup and the Mavericks countering with nine upperclassmen.

Chalk one up for the youngsters, especially one in particular.

Freshman right winger Jimmy Snuggerud notched a hat trick in this third career game and his classmates passed a big early-season test as the Gophers defeated the Mavericks 4-1 at 3M Arena at Mariucci in a rematch between teams in one of last season's NCAA Frozen Four semifinals in Boston.

Goalie Justen Close made 18 saves for Minnesota (3-0), which got a measure of revenge against Minnesota State (0-1). The Mavericks had ended the Gophers' season two years running in the NCAA tournament.

Snuggerud, whose father, Dave, and maternal grandfather, James Westby, played for the Gophers, couldn't hide his joy over his big night.

"It was definitely surreal — just watching all the games here and hearing that crowd chant was pretty cool," he said. "So nice to have that happen. It was really fun."

Snuggerud opened the fun for the Gophers at 18 minutes, 21 seconds of the first period when, during a scrum of four players in front of the net, he poked a loose puck past Keenan Rancier for his first career goal, igniting a loud celebration from the pro-Minnesota portion of the crowd of 8,472.

"He was frustrated last week," Gophers coach Bob Motzko said of Snuggerud, who didn't score in a sweep of Lindenwood. "I told him, 'Frustration's like a bad day. You've got to get out of it and start a new day.' "

Snuggerud's opening goal helped turn the game's tide after the Mavericks controlled play for the most of the first 15 minutes. The Gophers didn't get their first shot on goal until 5:40 had elapsed.

"We weathered the first 10 minutes," Motzko said. "That's a good hockey team, and we knew what we were going to see, but we weathered it, and that's when we dug in."

Said Mavericks coach Mike Hastings: "We had a good start. I just thought they were a bit harder."

Snuggerud, the No. 23 overall pick in the 2022 NHL draft by the St. Louis Blues, pushed the Gophers lead to 2-0 at 5:30 of the second with a blast from the high slot.

Minnesota State appeared to trim the lead to 2-1 at 9:40 of the second when defenseman Akito Hirose beat Close. Motzko, however, challenged the play for goalie interference because Mavericks winger Lucas Sowder bumped Close in the crease. Upon video review, officials ruled Sowder had interfered with Close's ability to play the puck and waved off the goal.

Minnesota State defenseman Jake Livingstone cut the Gophers' lead to 2-1 at 4:00 of the second, but that would be as close as the Mavericks would get. Nine seconds into a third-period power play, Snuggerud hammered a shot from the point past Rancier, who finished with 21 saves.

"Boy, he can shoot the puck," Motzko said of Snuggerud.

Freshman Connor Kurth added an empty-net goal for the Gophers with 2:04 to play.

"A lot of our young guys really stepped up to me," said Gophers senior defenseman Ryan Johnson, who had three assists. "They responded really well.''