University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, October 29
3M Arena at Mariucci
8:00 PM
University of Minnesota
4-3-0, 1-0-0
4
vs
1
Notre Dame
4-2-0, 0-1-0
1
2
3
F
Notre Dame
0
0
1
1
Minnesota
1
1
2
4
Photo by: Brace Hemmelgarn
‘U’ Opens B1G Play with 4-1 Win
10/29/2021 11:41:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Four Gophers scored while Ryan Johnson notched a pair of assists.
MINNEAPOLIS – Mike Richter Award winner and First Team All-American Jack LaFontaine backstopped the No. 7 Gopher men's hockey program to 4-1 win over No. 14 Notre Dame on Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci as the two teams opened Big Ten play.
Minnesota (4-3-0 overall, 1-0-0-0-0 Big Ten) featured four different goal scorers while Ryan Johnson posted a game-high two assists to tie his single-game career high.
Meanwhile, LaFontaine (4-3-0) made 28 saves on 29 shots to finish the night one shy of his season high for saves. The netminder also shut down Notre Dame's power-play units on all three chances in the series opener.
The Gophers struck first on Friday night and improved to 2-0-0 on the year when doing so as Ben Meyers scored his second of the year on a wraparound at 14:46 of the first period with Johnson's first assist of the game. Johnson then set up Bryce Brodzinski at 5:50 of the second period when the junior scored his team-leading fifth goal of the year for the eventual game winner.
Notre Dame (4-2-0, 0-1-0-0-0) brought it back within a goal at 5:31 of the third period off a goal from Graham Slaggert, but the Gophers pocketed two more late in the period to seal the win.
Mason Nevers added his fourth of the year at 18:04 off assists from Matthew Knies and Matt Staudacher while Blake McLaughlin picked up the empty netter at 19:59 with an assist from Jack Perbix.
Shots in the series opener were tied 29-29.
Coach's Comments
"That was probably our best game by our defensemen this year, and we needed it," Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. "We needed to have a game like this tonight…sometimes in a season, you need guys to make plays for you…we got a couple tonight."
Noteworthy
Nevers has now scored a goal in four of seven games this season and has six goals in his last nine games…McLaughlin improved his team scoring lead to 10 points on the season while the senior has recorded points in five of seven games this year.
Up Next: 'U' Hosts Notre Dame
Minnesota concludes this weekend's Big Ten series with Notre Dame on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 5:05 p.m. CT (TV: Bally Sports North; Stream: B1G+/Bally Sports App; Radio: 1130 KTLK-AM/103.5 FM).
Team Stats
UND
MIN
Shots
29
29
PPG
0
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
3
3
Penalty Mins
6
6
Faceoffs Won
30
30
Game Leaders
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
1
A
2
+/-
2
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's HockeyDefense
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's Hockey
Goaltender
/ Men's HockeyForward
/ Men's HockeyForward
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's Hockey
Defense
/ Men's HockeyHighlights: Gophers 6, Michigan Tech 3
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