Gophers men’s hockey team overcomes Ohio State, stands second alone in Big Ten

Brody Lamb, a junior forward for the Gophers men’s hockey team, has been a reliable scorer at every stage of his development, including amassing 101 goals and 58 assists in a mere 48 games during his prep career with Dodge County. He broke through with the Gophers last season, collecting 12 goals and 14 assists, and followed up with 13 goals through Jan. 3 this season.

Since then, though, Lamb hadn’t scored a goal in 11 games and had only one assist in that span.

That all changed Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci when Lamb emphatically broke out of his slump, scoring two goals and assisting on another as the Gophers defeated Ohio State 4-1 in front of 10,500.

“I felt good,” said Lamb, whose 14th goal of the season gave the Gophers a 1-0 lead in the first period and whose 15th provided insurance late in the third. “Been battling a little bit, and it feels good to finally get that off my chest and, even better, come out with the win.”

Said Gophers coach Bob Motzko: “Great time of the year for it to happen, too. And he’s got a smile back on his face. He’s an integral part of our team.”

That team now sits alone in second place in the Big Ten, instead of being tied with the Buckeyes. With the victory, the Gophers (22-7-4, 13-5-3 Big Ten), No. 3 in the PairWise Rankings, moved to 43 points in the conference standings, one behind first-place Michigan State. The Spartans tied Penn State on Friday but lost a shootout and the extra point in the standings.

Sixth-ranked Ohio State (20-9-2, 13-7-1, eighth in the Pairwise Rankings) saw its four-game winning streak end.

Defenseman Ryan Chesley also scored, and Oliver Moore got an empty-net goal for the Gophers. Goalie Liam Souliere made 25 saves and assisted on Lamb’s second goal.

Davis Burnside scored for Ohio State, and Logan Terness made 21 saves.

Motzko was pleased with the grit his team showed by handling pressure in a tight, defensive game that was 2-1 deep into the third period.

“You have to be comfortable in the grind, and we have not been at times this year,” Motzko said. “We want to get to the offense, and I give our guys credit tonight. We’re learning. We’re getting better at that.”

Lamb’s first goal, at 12:14 of the first, was a product of center Aaron Huglen’s hustle. Huglen entered the Buckeyes zone with speed, skated around the net and fed Lamb in the slot. Lamb quickly tapped the puck past Terness.

“It always helps when you can score to get some confidence,” Huglen said. “So, that was a big one for him.”

Chesley was in a slump of his own with only three points in the second half of the Big Ten season, but he broke through to make it 2-1 at 7:25 of the second period. On a rush, Beckett Hendrickson sent a cross-ice pass to Chesley, who patiently waited for Terness to commit and slid the puck into the gaping net.

The Gophers withstood a Buckeyes charge early in the third and limited them to only five shots on goal in the final 12:22. Then with 2:26 left in the third, Lamb sped into the Ohio State zone, raced around the net and stuffed in a wraparound goal. Only 1:05 later, Lamb assisted on Moore’s empty-net goal.

“There was not a lot of easy ice out there tonight until Brody was able to sneak that third one in there,” Motzko said.