Jimmy Snuggerud’s two goals help Gophers cruise past Penn State in men’s hockey

Gophers men’s hockey coach Bob Motzko on Tuesday said he wouldn’t worry about star junior forward Jimmy Snuggerud scoring goals — or not scoring them.

His faith was rewarded in Friday night’s 3-1 victory over Penn State at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

After Snuggerud scored once in the team’s first six games, Snuggerud scored the tying and winning goals in the second period Friday.

“There’s a lot of things I’m going to worry about on this planet, that ain’t one of them,” Motzko said afterward. “It was only a matter of time, and he came through tonight. I feel great for him. He has had chances. It’s only a matter of time before they go in.”

They did, twice against the Nittany Lions after Snuggerud came off a four-point series last weekend against St. Thomas — although all four points were assists. He entered Friday with one goal and six assists.

A St. Louis Blues first-round draft pick who returned to college to win a national title, Snuggerud tied the score 96 seconds into the second period, then scored the winner on a power play with 1:38 left in the period.

Sophomore Jimmy Clark added an empty-netter in the game’s final minutes as the Gophers improved to 6-1 on the season by winning their Big Ten Conference opener.

Snuggerud tied the score Friday night with a sweeping shot from the left circle. Brody Lamb made the pass through the slot and Snuggerud scored the goal, a goal Motzko never doubted would come.

Snuggerud didn’t sound quite so sure.

“I try not to,” Snuggerud said. “It’s all a mental game. You get caught in a loop and you don’t think you’re going to score. But the puck eventually goes in. It’s just how it works. You’ve got to be good on both sides. It’s not easy to score. But when you’re playing with good players, it makes it easier.”

Snuggerud scored his second of the night, on the last of three almost consecutive power plays over a nine-minute span. Included was Penn State left wing Matt DiMarsico’s five-minute penalty for boarding the Gophers’ Connor Kurth.

The Gophers’ power-play attempts were fruitless until Snuggerud deflected Sam Rinzel’s shot from near the blue line. Penn State goalie Arsenii Sergeev stopped 31 shots, but he couldn’t prevent Snuggerud’s two more. The Gophers’ Nathan Airey’s 21 saves included a game-changing save with three minutes left.

The Gophers went 1-for-6 on power plays, but Motzki called that one scored “huge.”

“We were fortunate to get one,” Snuggerud said. “The momentum definitely changes. We don’t score on the power play for five minutes, it hurts the team. We get one and we move forward.”

Penn State delivered a 1-0 lead by scoring with 38 seconds left the first period. It was something Motzko said his team has needed, “a punch in the mouth.”

They took it in that first period, when they lost junior defenseman Cal Thomas to what Motzko called a lower-body injury after the game’s opening shifts. Motzko said he didn’t expect Thomas to be available for Saturday night’s rematch.

Without Thomas, Motzko played freshmen Leo Gruba and John Whipple until the end.

“Cal’s one of our rocks and the other guys did a heck of a job,” Motzko said. “You need to do that early in the year. You play everybody. Our young guys grew up tonight.”

Motzko also called it a “grow-up game” and said it also qualified as getting slugged after Penn State outshot the Gophers 11-9 and outscored them by the one goal in the first period.

“It was a hard, hard-fought hockey game tonight,” he said. “We had to fight. We had to earn that victory. We had to work our tails off.”