University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, January 28
South Bend, IN
6:30 PM
University of Minnesota
15-10-0, 10-5-0
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Notre Dame
17-8-0, 9-6-0
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Minnesota
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Notre Dame
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Photo by: Brad Rempel
Minnesota Wins Fifth Straight Over Notre Dame, Downs Irish 5-1
1/28/2022 9:51:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Justen Close made a career-high 28 saves and earned his first point with the Gophers.
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Minnesota's run of luck at Compton Family Ice Arena continued on Friday night as the No. 10 Gopher men's hockey program beat No. 11/12 Notre Dame 5-1 for the Maroon & Gold's fifth-straight win over the Irish.
Minnesota (15-10-0 overall, 10-5-0-1-1-0 Big Ten) has also won seven-straight games at Notre Dame's venue and are unbeaten in the last eight games at the facility (three of those wins came against other Big Ten teams during last year's conference playoffs).
Twelve Gophers tallied points in the series opening win including two goals from Blake McLaughlin and Justen Close's first career point with the program.
Minnesota took a few minutes to get its offensive engine running on Friday night, but it soon got up and running with three goals in the first period. Grant Cruikshank scored his fourth of the season on Minnesota's first shot of the night at 6:05 while Tristan Broz added his second career goal at 8:40. McLaughlin's first of the night closed out the period at 11:09 as the Gophers chased Matthew Galajda from the Irish net with three goals on its first five shots.
Sammy Walker's ninth of the year came just 37 seconds into the second period before Trevor Janicke scored for Notre Dame (17-8-0, 9-6-0-4-1-0) at 16:22 on the power play. McLaughlin pocketed his second of the night and ninth of the season to close out the scoring at 19:25 of the second period.
In addition to his first career point, Close also improved to 3-2-0 on the season behind a career-high 28 saves.
Minnesota was outshot 24-29 on the night while going 3-for-4 on the penalty kill and 0-for-3 on the power play.
Noteworthy
Blake McLaughlin is now four points away from joining Minnesota's 100-Point Club and when he reaches the milestone he'll owe an extra bit of thanks to Compton Family Ice Arena. In 11 career games at the venue, the forward has 13 points (nine goals, four assists)…Janicke's goal snapped a stretch of 151:59 of shutout hockey by the Gophers against the Irish in Notre Dame (Minnesota swept last year's regular-season road series with a pair of shutouts)…Sammy Walker (one goal, one assist) and Jackson LaCombe (two assists) joined McLaughlin as three Gophers tallied multiple points in the win.
Coach's Comments
"They've been off for a week too, and we might have caught them. It's not going to be that way tomorrow," Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. "Cruikshank buries the first one, and it's an important goal. Probably one of the more important teams to score first against is Notre Dame, and we got it tonight."
Next Up: Road Trip to Notre Dame
Minnesota continues the 2021-22 campaign on Saturday, Jan. 29 at Notre Dame. The series finale with the Irish is set for 5:00 p.m. CT at the Compton Family Ice Arena (Stream: Peacock; Radio: 1130 KTLK/103.5 FM).
Minnesota (15-10-0 overall, 10-5-0-1-1-0 Big Ten) has also won seven-straight games at Notre Dame's venue and are unbeaten in the last eight games at the facility (three of those wins came against other Big Ten teams during last year's conference playoffs).
Twelve Gophers tallied points in the series opening win including two goals from Blake McLaughlin and Justen Close's first career point with the program.
Minnesota took a few minutes to get its offensive engine running on Friday night, but it soon got up and running with three goals in the first period. Grant Cruikshank scored his fourth of the season on Minnesota's first shot of the night at 6:05 while Tristan Broz added his second career goal at 8:40. McLaughlin's first of the night closed out the period at 11:09 as the Gophers chased Matthew Galajda from the Irish net with three goals on its first five shots.
Sammy Walker's ninth of the year came just 37 seconds into the second period before Trevor Janicke scored for Notre Dame (17-8-0, 9-6-0-4-1-0) at 16:22 on the power play. McLaughlin pocketed his second of the night and ninth of the season to close out the scoring at 19:25 of the second period.
In addition to his first career point, Close also improved to 3-2-0 on the season behind a career-high 28 saves.
Minnesota was outshot 24-29 on the night while going 3-for-4 on the penalty kill and 0-for-3 on the power play.
Noteworthy
Blake McLaughlin is now four points away from joining Minnesota's 100-Point Club and when he reaches the milestone he'll owe an extra bit of thanks to Compton Family Ice Arena. In 11 career games at the venue, the forward has 13 points (nine goals, four assists)…Janicke's goal snapped a stretch of 151:59 of shutout hockey by the Gophers against the Irish in Notre Dame (Minnesota swept last year's regular-season road series with a pair of shutouts)…Sammy Walker (one goal, one assist) and Jackson LaCombe (two assists) joined McLaughlin as three Gophers tallied multiple points in the win.
Coach's Comments
"They've been off for a week too, and we might have caught them. It's not going to be that way tomorrow," Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. "Cruikshank buries the first one, and it's an important goal. Probably one of the more important teams to score first against is Notre Dame, and we got it tonight."
Next Up: Road Trip to Notre Dame
Minnesota continues the 2021-22 campaign on Saturday, Jan. 29 at Notre Dame. The series finale with the Irish is set for 5:00 p.m. CT at the Compton Family Ice Arena (Stream: Peacock; Radio: 1130 KTLK/103.5 FM).
Team Stats
UMN
UND
Shots
24
29
PPG
0
1
SHG
0
0
Penalties
5
4
Penalty Mins
10
8
Faceoffs Won
20
28
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
2
Goals
2
Sh
4
A
0
+/-
3
Goals
1
Sh
1
A
1
+/-
3
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
2
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
0
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Hockey
Goaltender
/ Men's HockeyForward
/ Men's HockeyDefense
/ Men's HockeyForward
/ Men's HockeyForward
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