Jaxon Nelson scored three times and Oliver Moore added a pair as Minnesota overcame an early deficit and got its power play clicking, guaranteeing a home playoff series vs. Penn State next week.
As well as his team had been playing, barreling headlong toward the Big Ten playoffs, with a return trip to the NCAA tournament all but booked, Gophers coach Bob Motzko admitted that he wanted to see something from his team’s power play with rival Michigan coming to visit.
Mission accomplished.
Minnesota scored a trio of power-play goals in the second period on Friday, busting open what had been a close game on the way to a 6-2 win over the Wolverines, to clinch third place in the Big Ten standings.
Jaxon Nelson had a hat trick and Oliver Moore added a pair of goals for the Gophers (20-8-5 overall, 13-6-4 Big Ten), while Bryce Brodzinski chipped in with three assists.
The Minnesota win sets up two first-round Big Ten playoff series next weekend, with Penn State facing the Gophers and Notre Dame visiting Michigan, which will finish fourth.
Rutger McGroarty scored first for Michigan (17-13-3, 10-11-2), which also got a goal from Garrett Schifsky for a 2-2 tie after one period, but things went south after that. Wolverines starting goalie Jake Barczeski, the reigning player of the week in the Big Ten, had 13 saves in the first 40 minutes but was lifted in favor of Noah West for the final frame.
The game was a showcase of Nelson’s 6-foot-4 frame as well as his skill, as he was punishing around the net, and he turned in his first multi-goal game of the season.
Justen Close finished with 19 saves for Minnesota, which had gone 0 for 9 on the power play in the month of February. West, playing in just his second conference game for Michigan, finished with 10 saves in the third period.
Briefly
Minnesota was without forward Connor Kurth, who was scratched from the lineup with an undisclosed injury. Earlier in the week in a radio interview, Motzko had mentioned that a player had suffered a cut in practice, but did not disclose which player had been injured.
The Gophers honored a key member of their 2002 NCAA title team during the first intermission. Matt Koalska, a St. Paul native, scored the game-tying goal late in the third period of their national title game meeting with Maine, which the Gophers eventually won on an overtime power play. Koalska signed autographs on the concourse before the game.
The series concludes with a 7:30 p.m. CT start on Saturday.
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