University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, February 18
University Park, PA
5:30 PM
University of Minnesota
20-11-0, 15-6-0
3
at
1
Penn State
14-16-1, 5-15-1
1
2
3
F
Minnesota
1
1
1
3
Penn State
1
0
0
1
Photo by: Big Ten Network
Minnesota Starts Weekend with 3-1 Win at PSU
2/18/2022 9:18:00 PM | Men's Hockey
The win was Minnesota's first at Pegula Ice Arena since 2017.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Five years to the day after Minnesota's last win at Pegula Ice Arena, the No. 5/6 Gopher men's hockey program exorcised its road demons at the venue with a 3-1 win over Penn State on Friday night.
Jack Perbix scored twice for the second time in his career while Rhett Pitlick extended his point streak to five games for Minnesota (20-11-0 overall, 15-6-0-1-2-0 Big Ten). When it came to assists, the Gophers have multiple notable points as Colin Schmidt notched his first point with the Gophers, Sam Rossini added his first assist since re-joining the team for a fifth season in January and Blake McLaughlin picked up his 100th point with the Maroon & Gold. Sammy Walker and Ryan Johnson also picked up assists in the win.
On the other end of the ice, Mike Richter Award candidate Justen Close made a career-high 37 saves on 38 shots to improve to 8-3-0 on the year. Liam Souliere made 32 saves for Penn State (14-16-1, 5-15-1-1-1-1).
Pitlick, who has four goals and eight points on his five-game point streak, fittingly opened the scoring for Minnesota's first win at Pegula Ice Arena since a 4-3 overtime win on Feb. 18, 2017 as his brother – Montreal Canadiens forward Rem Pitlick – scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in the last win at the venue. Friday's goal came at 6:42 of the opening stanza as Rossini and Johnson set up the tally. Ryan Kirwan scored the equalizer at 19:01 of the period.
Perbix added back-to-back goals in the second and third periods for the eventual game winner and an empty-net insurance goal. Schmidt, who spent one season at Union before joining the Gophers last year, picked off an errant pass and found Perbix at 15:22 of the second period. Walker and McLaughlin later set up the empty-net tally at 19:54 of the final frame.
Minnesota was outshot 38-35 on the night.
Noteworthy
The win was Bob Motzko's first victory at Pegula Ice Arena although Minnesota's last three games at the venue were not played (last year's regular-season series was canceled due to health concerns with Penn State while the 2020 Big Ten semifinal was canceled due to public health concerns)…McLaughlin is the 86th member of Minnesota's 100-Point Club and second Gopher to reach the mark this season after Walker. The senior matched his career high with 28 points this season to lead the Gophers…Minnesota's five-game winning streak is its longest of the season.
Coach's Comments
"It was a strong game for us tonight. I couldn't be more proud of our guys," Motzko said. "We're shorthanded up front, shorthanded on the back side – everybody stood up and was part of that tonight.
Next Up: Series Finale at Penn State
The Gophers close out a four-game road stretch with the series finale at Penn State on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 5:00 p.m. CT (TV: Big Ten Network; Stream; FOX Sports App; Radio: 1130 KTLK/103.5 FM).
Jack Perbix scored twice for the second time in his career while Rhett Pitlick extended his point streak to five games for Minnesota (20-11-0 overall, 15-6-0-1-2-0 Big Ten). When it came to assists, the Gophers have multiple notable points as Colin Schmidt notched his first point with the Gophers, Sam Rossini added his first assist since re-joining the team for a fifth season in January and Blake McLaughlin picked up his 100th point with the Maroon & Gold. Sammy Walker and Ryan Johnson also picked up assists in the win.
On the other end of the ice, Mike Richter Award candidate Justen Close made a career-high 37 saves on 38 shots to improve to 8-3-0 on the year. Liam Souliere made 32 saves for Penn State (14-16-1, 5-15-1-1-1-1).
Pitlick, who has four goals and eight points on his five-game point streak, fittingly opened the scoring for Minnesota's first win at Pegula Ice Arena since a 4-3 overtime win on Feb. 18, 2017 as his brother – Montreal Canadiens forward Rem Pitlick – scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in the last win at the venue. Friday's goal came at 6:42 of the opening stanza as Rossini and Johnson set up the tally. Ryan Kirwan scored the equalizer at 19:01 of the period.
Perbix added back-to-back goals in the second and third periods for the eventual game winner and an empty-net insurance goal. Schmidt, who spent one season at Union before joining the Gophers last year, picked off an errant pass and found Perbix at 15:22 of the second period. Walker and McLaughlin later set up the empty-net tally at 19:54 of the final frame.
Minnesota was outshot 38-35 on the night.
Noteworthy
The win was Bob Motzko's first victory at Pegula Ice Arena although Minnesota's last three games at the venue were not played (last year's regular-season series was canceled due to health concerns with Penn State while the 2020 Big Ten semifinal was canceled due to public health concerns)…McLaughlin is the 86th member of Minnesota's 100-Point Club and second Gopher to reach the mark this season after Walker. The senior matched his career high with 28 points this season to lead the Gophers…Minnesota's five-game winning streak is its longest of the season.
Coach's Comments
"It was a strong game for us tonight. I couldn't be more proud of our guys," Motzko said. "We're shorthanded up front, shorthanded on the back side – everybody stood up and was part of that tonight.
Next Up: Series Finale at Penn State
The Gophers close out a four-game road stretch with the series finale at Penn State on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 5:00 p.m. CT (TV: Big Ten Network; Stream; FOX Sports App; Radio: 1130 KTLK/103.5 FM).
Team Stats
UMN
PSU
Shots
35
38
PPG
0
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
1
3
Penalty Mins
2
6
Faceoffs Won
25
28
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
2
Goals
2
Sh
4
A
0
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
5
A
1
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
1
Players Mentioned
Goaltender
/ Men's Hockey
Defense
/ Men's HockeyForward
/ Men's HockeyForward
/ Men's HockeyForward
/ Men's Hockey
Defense
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's HockeyForward
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