University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Rebound for 3-1 Win Over Ohio State
10/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
A dominant first period sparked the Minnesota men’s hockey team to a 3-1 non-conference victory over Ohio State on Thursday at Mariucci Arena.
The Gophers scored a pair of goals and outshot the Buckeyes 16-2 in the opening period, holding Ohio State without a shot on goal for nearly the first 16 minutes of the game. Minnesota’s win overcame a pair of losses in its conference-opening series last week at Colorado College and improved the Gophers to 11-1 all-time against Ohio State and 3-2 for the season. The Buckeyes, who made their first visit to Mariucci Arena for a regular season series since 1981, have lost three straight and fell to 2-3 overall.
Minnesota was sharp from the opening faceoff and scored its first goal 2:51 into the contest as Ben Gordon was free in the slot and fired a shot over the left shoulder of Buckeyes’ goaltender Joseph Palmer. The play was set up when Stu Bickel cycled a puck around the net to Blake Wheeler, who dished a perfect pass in front to Gordon for his first goal of the season.
The Gophers got some help on their second goal at the 14:05 mark when Justin Bostrom was passing across the front of the net to Tony Lucia, but the puck deflected off the skate of Ohio State’s Corey Elkins and in for a 2-0 Minnesota lead. Bostrom was credited with an unassisted goal.
Neither team had a penalty until Ohio State was whistled for a tripping penalty 1:46 into the second period. Minnesota, which has struggled in recent games on the power play, finally got its special teams play on track, but scored at even strength when Mike Howe notched a goal just as the penalty expired at the 3:46 mark. Howe’s goal came when defensemen David Fischer and Derek Peltier moved the puck back and forth at the top, moving the defense away from Howe and giving him an open lane to shoot.
Minnesota had four shots on its first power play and two more on its second chance, but was 0-for-2 for the game. Ohio State only had two shots on the power play and failed on three opportunities.
The Buckeyes scored at the 15:54 mark of the second period when Peter Boyd fired a long shot off a pass from Kyle Reed. It was the only blemish against Gophers’ netminder Jeff Frazee, who totaled 21 saves for his third win of the year.
Minnesota outshot Ohio State 33-22 for the game, though the Buckeyes held an 11-5 advantage in the third period. Palmer finished with 30 saves in the loss.
The teams meet again on Friday night at Mariucci Arena at 7:05 p.m.
