University of Minnesota Athletics
Kangas Stands Tall as Gophers Hold Off Buckeyes
10/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Minnesota freshman goaltender Alex Kangas had a memorable first career start and the Gophers withstood a furious third period rally to defeat Ohio State 2-1 on Friday at Mariucci Arena.
Kangas had 32 saves and stopped 21 shots in the third period, including several miraculous saves in the final three minutes as the Buckeyes outshot the Gophers 22-3 in the final period. However, Minnesota’s two-goal lead entering the third period was enough as the Gophers improved to 4-2 overall and posted their first home sweep since Nov. 18-19 of last season against Wisconsin. Ohio State dropped its fourth straight and fell to 2-4 overall.
The Buckeyes, who have lost 12 of 13 all-time meetings with Minnesota, had four shots in about a 30-second span late in the third period. Ohio State had another shot that was headed in the goal, but stopped by a Gophers’ defender. The scramble came shortly after Minnesota killed off Ohio State’s only third period power play.
Following the dramatic flurry of saves, the Mariucci Arena crowd of 9,573 gave Kangas a standing ovation and Gophers’ coach Don Lucia called timeout with 2:19 left to stop the Buckeyes’ momentum. The move worked as Ohio State had one shot the remainder of the game and failed to score with an extra attacker for the final 39 seconds.
Neither team mounted many chances in the first two periods, but Minnesota took advantage of its best chances. Justin Bostrom put the Gophers on the board with 35 seconds left in the first period by blasting a shot from short range off a give-and-go with Mike Howe, who was behind the net.
Jay Barriball gave Minnesota a two-goal lead at the 6:19 mark of the second period when he picked off a cross-ice pass at the blue line and raced alone to the other end where he fired a shot past Buckeyes’ goalie Joseph Palmer for an unassisted goal.
Kangas flirted with a shutout into the third period, but the Buckeyes halted the freshman’s hopes when Kyle Hood scored on a long shot with an assist from Tommy Goebel. Minnesota outshot Ohio State 17-11 in the first two periods before the Buckeyes’ third period outburst gave them a 33-20 final margin for the game.
Palmer made 18 saves for Ohio State, which was 0-for-3 on the power play. Minnesota failed to score on two man-advantage chances.
The Gophers host the U.S. Under-18 national team on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Mariucci Arena.
