Late rally comes up short for Gophers men's hockey in Big Ten championship loss to Michigan

The back story of Saturday night's Big Ten championship game between the Gophers and Michigan had a lot that a college hockey fan could want: a sold-out and raucous crowd of 10,774, the largest ever at 3M Arena at Mariucci; rosters featuring a combined 25 NHL draft picks, including nine first-rounders; two of the nation's most-storied programs that have a combined 14 NCAA championships.

And when Gophers center Jaxon Nelson took a stretch pass from defenseman Jackson LaCombe, split the Michigan defense and scored on a backhander only 32 seconds into the game, the roar suggested a Minnesota party was just starting.

The Wolverines, though, had other ideas, knotting the score 45 seconds later, taking a lead late in the first period, building a three-goal lead and holding on for a 4-3 victory.

Down 4-1 late in the third, the Gophers got two power-play, extra-attacker goals from Matthew Knies with 58 and 6 seconds left.

"We get the first one, and the building lit on fire,'' Gophers coach Bob Motzko said of Nelson's goal. "We just made a couple mistakes. … We chased the game the rest of the way.''

The conference tournament title gives Michigan the Big Ten's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and the Wolverines (29-9-1) will be the No. 1 overall seed when the field is announced at 5:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU. Brendan Brisson and Mackie Samoskevich each had a goal and an assist for Michigan, while goalie Erik Portillo, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, made 25 saves.

The Gophers (24-12) couldn't add a second Big Ten banner after winning the regular-season crown, but they already had secured an NCAA spot. They are No. 6 in the PairWise Ratings, and that puts them in line to be a No. 2 regional seed. Regionals are in Albany, N.Y., and Loveland, Colo., on Thursday and Saturday, and Allentown, Pa., and Worcester, Mass., on Friday and Sunday.

After Nelson's goal, two Wolverines first-round draft picks hooked up at 1:17 when Matty Beniers found Brisson alone by the net, and Brisson beat goalie Justen Close to tie the score.

Michigan took a 2-1 lead at 17:51 of the first when Samoskevich's shot from a sharp angle bounced in off Gophers defenseman Mike Koster's stick.

Michigan increased its lead to 3-1 at 2:07 of the second when the Gophers were caught flat-footed at their blue line and gave up a 2-on-1 rush. Samoskevich fed Dylan Duke for the goal. Michigan got its fourth goal at 6:26 of the second, a power-play marker from Kent Johnson.

Meanwhile, the Gophers had trouble cracking Michigan's defense and began pressing.

"They have a great 'D,' and they can skate,'' Gophers co-captain Sammy Walker said. "We could have done a better job getting pucks to the goal line.''

Added Motzko, "We tried to hit home runs to get back in the game when we just needed singles.''

The crowd became angry at 7:00 of the third period when Nelson received a five-minute major and game misconduct for checking from behind, giving Michigan a 5-on-3 power play. Fans, already irate with the officials for a perceived lack of calls against Michigan, littered the ice with cups and bottles and had to be warned by the public address announcer.

Knies' two late goals made the score close, but it wasn't enough.

Motzko is hopeful that the loss can refocus his team after its nine-game winning streak ended.

"It's going to make us better,'' he said. "We needed a game like that to get the cobwebs out.''

All-tournament team: Along with Portillo, Michigan's Samoskevich, Brisson, Beniers and defenseman Luke Hughes made the all-tournament team. LaCombe was the lone Gopher.