Another night, another blown lead.
This time, a shootout couldn’t save the Minnesota men’s hockey team as the Gophers fell 3-2 at Notre Dame Saturday night.
Cal Thomas gave Minnesota a first period lead with an even-strength goal at 6:21. The Gophers held the advantage until the Fighting Irish netted a short-handed goal at 14:22 of the second period to knot the score at 1-all.
Javon Moore put the visitors up once again with 51 seconds remaining in the middle frame to put Minnesota ahead 2-1 with 20 minutes to play.
However, the hosts owned the third period by scoring a power-play tally at 10:17 to draw even before taking their first lead in the final minute of regulation. The Gophers challenged the game-deciding score for a possible offsides, but the goal was upheld.
The 3-2 edge held for the final 51 seconds as the Big Ten cellar dwellers claimed just their second conference victory of the season.
Luca Di Pasquo, who celebrated a shootout victory one night earlier, left the ice in not nearly as celebratory of a mood after making 21 saves for the Gophers (10-19-2 overall, 6-13-1 Big Ten). Nicholas Kempf earned the victory for the Irish (6-20-4, 2-15-1) with a 23-save evening in South Bend, Ind.
The Gophers have next weekend off to lick their wounds before heading into a buzzsaw pair of series against the two top teams in the Big Ten to wrap the regular season. Minnesota heads to conference leader Michigan for a two-game set on Feb. 26-27, before returning home for their final two pre-playoff games against current circuit No. 2, Michigan State, on March 5-6.
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