Gophers men’s hockey team finds a complication in push for Big Ten title: OT loss to Penn State

Penn State giveth, and Penn State taketh away.

Six days after the Gophers moved into first place in the Big Ten hockey standings — with a big assist from Penn State taking five of six points against Michigan State — the Nittany Lions dropped Minnesota back into second. Simon Mack scored with 1:51 left in overtime, giving Penn State a 4-3 victory over the Gophers on Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena.

The Gophers (23-8-4, 14-6-3 Big Ten) gained one point by reaching overtime and now have 47 points in the standings. They’re tied for first place with Michigan State, a 5-2 winner over Notre Dame, but the Spartans own the tiebreaker because of their 2-0-2 record against Minnesota.

By not getting at least two points Friday, the Gophers no longer control their destiny for winning the conference title outright entering Saturday’s final game of the regular season. If Michigan State beats Notre Dame in regulation, the Spartans would receive the first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament. For the Gophers to win the regular-season title outright, they would need to finish a point ahead of Michigan State. A Minnesota regulation win plus anything less than a regulation win for the Spartans would accomplish that for the Gophers.

“Ninety percent of what we did today was outstanding,” Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. “We kept the crowd quiet, we got the lead, but we lost our focus, and all three of their [regulation] goals came on us turning the puck over.”

Jimmy Snuggerud tied the score 3-3 at 11:44 of the third period with his 22nd goal of the season for the Gophers, and Mason Nevers and Connor Kurth also had goals for Minnesota. Gophers goalie Liam Souliere, a graduate transfer from Penn State making his first start in Pegula as a Nittany Lions opponent, made 28 saves.

Penn State controlled overtime, winning three of four faceoffs and putting three shots on goal to the Gophers’ zero.

The Gophers started well, taking a 1-0 lead at 2:40 of the first when Nevers hammered home a rebound of a Beckett Hendrickson shot. In the game’s first 4:35, the Gophers had nine shots on goal to Penn State’s zero.

The Nittany Lions killed off two Minnesota power plays early in the second and built momentum. That led to DiMarsico and Wiebusch scoring 46 seconds apart for a 2-1 Penn State lead.