Jimmy Snuggerud scored two of Minnesota’s five first-period goals and the third-ranked Gophers held on to defeat Notre Dame 5-2 at 3M Arena at Mariucci on Friday.
Cal Thomas, John Mittelstadt and Mason Nevers also scored for the Gophers (19-4-2, 10-2-1 in the Big Ten), who took control early with a dynamic first period in which they outshot the Irish 24-5 and outscored them 5-1.
Goaltender Nathan Airey made 13 saves for Minnesota, which won for the fourth time in five January games.
Defensemen Paul Fischer and Jimmy Jurcev each scored for Notre Dame, while Nicholas Kempf made 41 saves for the Irish, who were outshot 46-15 on the night.
Snuggerud also scored twice as the Gophers completed a sweep at Notre Dame on Nov. 23.
The Irish actually got on the board first, when Fischer fired a shot from the bottom of the left circle that trickled between Airey’s pads and rolled to a stop just shy of the goal line beyond Airey’s skates. As the other players on the ice looked for the puck, Fischer swooped in and tapped it home for a 1-0 Irish lead just 4:02 into the game.
Snuggerud got that back in a hurry for the Gophers. A mere 24 seconds after Fischer’s goal, Erik Påhlsson skated in from behind the Notre Dame net and flipped a backhander that Kempf stopped. But the rebound landed on the stick of Snuggerud trailing the play and he made no mistake, burying his 13th goal of the season and a 1-all tie.
The Gophers then scored twice in a 29-second span midway through the first. First, Thomas fired home his first goal of the season after Luke Mittelstadt found him alone in the right faceoff circle. Then John Mittelstadt chipped home another rebound that Kempf couldn’t contain for his third of the season and a 3-1 Minnesota lead.
Minnesota’s onslaught continued with two more quick goals late in the first. Snuggerud picked up his second of the night and 14th of the season when his wrister from the high slot beat a screened Kempf. Then just 14 seconds later, Nevers rapped home a feed from Beckett Hendrickson for a 5-1 lead.
Jurcev beat Airey with a high wrist shot to make it 5-1 with 6:35 gone in the second.
Before the game, the Gophers honored Oliver Moore and Brodie Ziemer as well as associate head coach Steve Miller, who were back at Mariucci for the first time since helping Team USA take gold in the world junior championships on Jan. 5 in Ottawa.
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