STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Trailing 3-0 after the opening period, the No. 5 Gophers men's hockey team scored three goals in the second and three in the third to stun Penn State 6-4 on Saturday night at Pegula Ice Arena. Minnesota won 3-1 the night before, so this gave the Gophers a sweep and six wins in a row.
Gophers men's hockey overcomes 3-0 deficit to sweep at Penn State
Minnesota got three goals in the second and three more in the third to catch and pass the Nittany Lions.
February 20, 2022 at 2:12AM
Freshman forward Aaron Huglen's power-play goal at 4 minutes, 41 seconds of the third period for the Gophers (21-11, 16-6 Big Ten) tied the score at 4-all. And, at 8:27, defenseman Jackson LaCombe scored the game-winner on his second goal of the season. Grant Cruikshank put an exclamation point on the comeback with an empty-netter with 39 seconds left. It was the senior forward's second goal of the game and sixth of the season.
"We just had a bad start, and then we played like we can play the last two periods. We needed a couple goals to get our juice going," Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. "We had contributions from a lot of guys in our lineup."
Until winning twice this weekend, the Gophers were 0-7-1 in their past eight games in Happy Valley going back to an overtime victory on Feb. 18, 2017. And in that miserable stretch, the Nittany Lions had outscored the Gophers 45-20.
So a 3-0 deficit looked formidable. Danny Dzgabuyev got the first goal for Penn State two minutes into the game. Then Ryan Kirwan and Tyler Paquette scored just 14 seconds apart midway through the opening period.
But Justen Close would allow only one more goal — to Xander Lampaa in the second. The Gophers junior goalie finished with 23 saves. Oskar Autio of the Nittany Lions stopped 28 shots.
And Minnesota got back into the game in the second. Mike Koster and Blake McLaughlin started the Gophers' comeback with goals at 4:39 and 12:27. Koster is a defenseman with two goals now this season like LaCombe. After Lampaa's goal, Cruikshank answered for Minnesota 2½ minutes later and it was 4-3 Penn State (14-17-1, 5-16-1) into the third.
Since the final period has been Minnesota's best as far as outscoring opponents this season, that one-goal deficit didn't seem insurmountable.
And it wasn't. Even in an arena where the Gophers have been drubbed so often in recent seasons.
While Wisconsin was sacking its offensive coordinator, the Gophers used a bye week to get ready for Penn State next Saturday, followed by the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe.
