Gophers men’s hockey team scores five times in first period, wipes out Notre Dame

Late during Wednesday’s practice, Gophers men’s hockey coach Bob Motzko split his players into two groups and had them go through a drill that featured as many as three skaters taking a short rush in alone against a goalie. It was suggested to Motzko that drill was a fun way for his shooters to end practice.

“Yeah, but yesterday we ended practice with a not-fun drill,” Motzko said, with last Friday’s four-goal loss to Ohio State still on his mind.

The Gophers got the point again, and Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci they made Notre Dame pay with a dominant start in a 5-2 victory in a Big Ten series opener in front of 10,362.

Minnesota scored five first-period goals, outshot Notre Dame 24-5 in the first period and attempted a whopping 42 shots to the Fighting Irish’s 12 in the opening 20 minutes.

Jimmy Snuggerud scored two goals, and Cal Thomas, John Mittelstadt and Mason Nevers had a goal apiece. Beckett Hendrickson and Mike Koster each had two assists for third-ranked Minnesota (19-4-2, 10-2-1 Big Ten). Nathan Airey made 13 saves as the Gophers outshot Notre Dame 46-15 and had 78 shots attempted to the Irish’s 42.

“We knew we would have a nice crowd with the students coming back, and we just wanted to show them our best game,” said Snuggerud, whose 32 points are tied for second nationally.

The Gophers’ victory, coupled with Michigan State’s 3-2 overtime loss to Michigan, moved Minnesota back into first place in the Big Ten with 30 points, one ahead of the Spartans.

“I wish it were March,” Motzko said. “There’s a long way to go.”

Notre Dame (7-15-1, 2-12-1) got goals from defensemen Paul Fischer and Jimmy Jurcev. Starting goalie Nicholas Kempf lasted one period, making 19 saves. Owen Say finished, stopping all 21 shots he faced.

After Notre Dame took a 1-0 lead at 4:02 of the first on Fischer’s goal, the Gophers responded 22 seconds later when Snuggerud slammed home a rebound of an Erik Pahlsson shot to knot the score 1-1.

“That’s huge,” Snuggerud said. “The shift after a goal [allowed] is the biggest shift in the game, especially after the first goal.”

Minnesota kept the pressure on the Irish, and it paid off with two quick-strike goals in the span of 29 seconds.

Thomas, a defenseman in his first game back from missing six games because of injury, took a cross-ice pass from Luke Mittelstadt and roofed a shot for a 2-1 lead at 8:43. John Mittelstadt followed at 9:12, backhanding a rebound past Kempf to make it 3-1.

“I saw a lot of net,” Thomas said of his goal. “Luke made it easy for me.”

BOXSCORE: Gophers 5, Notre Dame 2

There were more quick strikes to come. Snuggerud boosted the lead to 4-1 at 17:50. Fourteen seconds later, Hendrickson won a race to the puck in the left and quickly fed Nevers in front of the net for a 5-1 lead at 18:04.

Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson pulled Kempf to start the second period and inserted Say, who kept the Gophers from adding to their lead. Jurcev’s goal cut the lead to 5-2, but the Gophers held the Irish to four shots on goal in third.

“It was very important they didn’t get the third goal,” Motzko said. “That was probably the most critical part of the next 40 minutes, and we didn’t give it up.”