Minnesota Duluth goaltender Eve Gascon had trouble catching the puck Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena. When she finally corralled one, it cost her team the game.

Eleven minutes into the third period of a scoreless tie, the Gophers’ Abbey Murphy let go a shot from the top of the right-wing circle that banged off the glass behind the Bulldogs’ net. Gascon turned to play the puck, and she caught it just under the crossbar.

Murphy immediately began telling anyone and everyone that Gascon’s glove was beyond the goal line when she grabbed the puck. A quick video review proved Murphy to be correct, and the Gophers held on for a 1-0 victory.

“Her whole glove was in there,” Murphy said of her demonstrative reaction to the play. “I’m like, ‘That’s a goal.’”

As sure as she was, Murphy — and the rest of the Gophers — had to hold their breath in hopes that the replay showed, conclusively, that the puck was across the goal line.

“We were waiting,” Murphy said, “but I’m like, ‘Guys, I’m 10,000% that it went in.”

The goal was a team-leading 25th of the season for Murphy, but her first in the month of February.

“Sometimes when you’re fighting it a little bit, all of a sudden you bank one in off of someone’s rear end or a shin pad,” Gophers coach Brad Frost said. “But never really seen one like that.”

And yes, Murphy acknowledged that she’s been squeezing the stick a little tighter these past few games.

“Just a little,” Murphy said facetiously. “Obviously, it gets tough sometimes, but you’ve just got to find a way. Got to keep on shooting the puck and they’ll come.”

In making Murphy’s goal stand up, the fourth-ranked Gophers (25-9-1, 19-8-1 WCHA) completed the weekend sweet of the No. 6 Bulldogs (19-13-2, 14-12-2).

With Ohio State’s win over St. Cloud State on Saturday, the Gophers are the No. 3 seed in the WCHA tournament and will host Minnesota State-Mankato in a best-of-three-series beginning on Friday.

The Gophers outshot the Bulldogs 49-22 in the game, including 17-7 in the first period, when they registered the first 12 shots on goal in the game. The Bulldogs’ first shot on goal came halfway through the period.

The second period took a nasty turn, with the team taking turns making trips to the penalty box. The players seem to be frustrated over what they perceived to be missed calls or questionable calls by the referees.

Things calmed down in the third period.

“I think both coaches realized that after the way that second period went, that it was not advantageous for anybody,” Frost said. “(In the third) it got back to trying to win a hockey game.

“That’s why in third, I was just so proud of our group. Just stay out of stuff. Don’t worry about anything except what we can control and get back on top of our game. I was really proud of how they did that.”

Murphy was one of nine Gophers seniors saluted in a pregame ceremony on the ice. Frost spoke to the team about winning one for a group that has meant so much to the program, and one of its members proved to be the one to come through when it was needed the most.

“Great team win,” Murphy said. “Everyone worked their butts off. Honestly, just the effort by our team was incredible. So, I’m happy about this one.

“It’s really good to get a little momentum on our side. It really hasn’t really gone our way the last couple (series), but this was a really fun weekend.”

The Gophers have followed a four-game losing streak with three consecutive wins.

“I love how we’re playing,” Frost said. “We’re maturing at the right time. I’ve talked all year about playing the right way. We’ve done that in spurts, but then other times we haven’t. We’ve been doing a lot better job of that of late — certainly these last two games.”

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Minnesota United was 12-plus minutes away from doing something no other MLS club has done to Los Angeles FC in season openers: force even a draw.

But one of the league’s marquee clubs did what they always do: get all three points. Jeremy Ebobisse’s goal from outside the 18-yard box was the difference in a 1-0 win at BMO Stadium on Saturday in Los Angeles.

LAFC’s eight straight season-opening wins since 2018 stands as an MLS record.

The Loons were unbeaten in three straight openers, with wins at Austin last year and Dallas in 2023 and a draw at Philadelphia in 2022. A year ago, the Loons and LAFC were tied for the best road record (8-6-3) in MLS in 2024.

Kelvin Yeboah and Tani Oluwaseyi each had a scoring chance for MNUFC in the first half. In the fifth minute, Oluwaseyi had a shot near the penalty spot go just wide.

Yeboah then pounced on a Timothy Tillman giveaway in the 13th minute. His shot beat goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, but it went off the post and skidded in front of the net and wide.

Left wingback Joseph Rosales exited at halftime, with Anthony Markanich coming in. Rosales had dealt with a hamstring issue during preseason, but Apple TV’s Taylor Twellman said Markanich came in for tactical reasons. That’s a surprise because Rosales was one of the Loons’ best players at left wing back last season.

Ebobisse’s goal came in front of Markanich.

Robin Lod subbed in for Joaquin Pereyra and Sang Bin Jeong came in for Oluwaseyi in the 67th minute in like-for-like changes.

Jeong’s shot in the 89th minute took a deflection and hit off the crossbar.

Briefly

Forward Jordan Adebayo-Smith will head out to another club on loan, the Pioneer Press learned. It’s unclear the term or destination for the 24-year-old. … Captain Michael Boxall has now played in all nine of Minnesota’s MLS seasons since 2017. He made his 213th regular-season appearances for MNUFC.

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A Minnesota-born U.S. Border Patrol agent killed in the line of duty last month was buried at Fort Snelling on Saturday.

David Christopher “Chris” Maland, 44, was killed Jan. 20 while working in Vermont. He pulled over a car about 20 miles south of the border with Canada, believing one of the two passengers had an expired visa. One of the passengers opened fire; the other allegedly also drew a gun, according to an FBI affidavit.

Maland was fatally shot in the exchange. One of the passengers in the car, Felix Baukholt, was also killed.

On Saturday, Maland was buried with full military honors at Fort Snelling National Cemetery during a funeral attended by family, friends, community members and Border Patrol agents from around the country.

“Chris was a dedicated agent who served with honor and bravery,” his family wrote in his obituary. “He had a tremendous respect and pride for the work he did: he truly embodied service over self.”

Maland was born in Blue Earth and grew up in Fairmont. He was an Air Force veteran and worked security at the Pentagon, where he was stationed during the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Gov. Tim Walz ordered flags to fly at half-staff Saturday in Maland’s honor.

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“Minnesota recognizes Maland’s dedicated service and sacrifice, and I extend my deepest condolences to his family and loved ones,” Walz said in a statement.

The FBI has arrested and charged a Washington state woman in connection with Maland’s death. Teresa Youngblut, 21, faces federal firearms charges. She was the surviving passenger in the car involved in the shooting; the FBI affidavit alleges she opened fire first. Both people in the car belonged to a group called the Zizians that may be linked to six deaths in three states, investigators said.

This report includes information from the Associated Press.

DETROIT – For those who like hard hits, or great goaltending, or controversial calls, or impactful special teams, or late-game drama, or villains becoming heroes, or nearly any other hockey trope you can think of, the Minnesota Wild’s return from a two-week break had a little bit of all of that — and more.

When the last of the ice chips had settled onto the frozen surface of Little Caesars Arena, the Wild had rallied from two goals down with less than seven minutes to play in regulation, they had tied the game with an extra attacker on the ice, they had killed a rare overtime penalty on a call that — let’s just say — was interesting, and they got the winner on a breakaway after Marco Rossi was freed from what he said felt like the longest two minutes of his career.

Minnesota 4, Detroit 3 in overtime. And it was so much fun that they’ll do it all again on Tuesday when the Red Wings come to St. Paul for the rematch.

“It’s a huge two points and a huge, huge battle from every guy,” said defenseman Brock Faber, who came back from his stellar work at the 4 Nations Face-Off to log more than 30 minutes of ice time on Saturday.

With the Wild controlling the play in overtime, Rossi swiped at the puck, trying to pry it away from Detroit forward Patrick Kane. Kane took a stride, then went down in what Wild fans would call a dive, drawing the penalty and giving the Red Wings two minutes of a 4-on-3 advantage.

But Marc-Andre Fleury made two of his 27 saves for the game to keep the Wings off the board, just long enough for Joel Eriksson-Ek to feed Rossi with a pass as the diminutive Austrian got out of the box, springing Rossi on a breakaway. Rossi appeared to lose control of the puck as he neared the crease, but it slipped past Detroit goalie Cam Talbot and over the line anyway, giving the Wild their sixth win in the past eight games.

“It didn’t feel like two minutes, to be honest,” Rossi said of his stay in solitary confinement. Ask to describe how he scored the game-winner, he gave away no secrets.

As Alex DeBrincat gave the home team an early lead, Minnesota struggled to find offense anywhere near the Detroit crease until the final seconds of the opening period, when Talbot thwarted a point-blank shot by Marcus Johansson to keep the Wild scoreless.

Detroit began the middle frame with a strong push, testing Fleury a half-dozen times, and getting the game’s first power play. DeBrincat got a puck at the top of the crease during the man advantage and snapped a shot that beat Fleury but hit the pipe and crossbar before settling in the crease behind the goalie. While DeBrincat celebrated what he thought was his goal, Dylan Larkin celebrated as well, then swatted the loose puck over the goal line. After a lengthy video review, it was declared a good goal for Larkin, doubling the Red Wings’ advantage.

When the Wild finally got a power play, they made it count, with Matt Boldy’s shot from the blue line tipped in front of the net by Hinostroza. The puck popped up over the goalie and Hinstroza was able to knock it out of the air and over the goal line. It was the second goal for Hinostroza in the three Wild games he has played since being claimed off waivers from Nashville on Feb. 5.

With 20 seconds left in the period, Faber was leveled by DeBrincat while coming around the back of the Detroit net. It was a clean by hard check, which produced a roar from the crowd, and touched off a scrum when Boldy and Rossi came to Faber’s defense. It ended with the Red Wings back on the power play as Boldy drew two penalties, while Detroit’s Andrew Copp received a roughing minor, but no further punishment despite delivering an elbow to Boldy’s head during the clash.

“It’s a brotherhood here. We’re all family,” Faber said. “To get hit like that, having guys step in for you. Obviously I’d do the same, and any guy in that scrum would’ve done the same. It means a lot to me.”

Detroit needed just 22 seconds of power play at the start of the third to go up 3-1 when Lucas Raymond ripped a wrist shot into the upper right corner behind Fleury. DeBrincat was in the crease when the shot came in and made slight contact with Fleury, prompting a challenge by the Wild. After another thorough review, the goal was allowed to stand. The unsuccessful challenge meant a delay of game penalty on the Wild, giving Detroit its third power play of the game, but the Wild killed it off.

“That’s big. We needed a kill there when we had the challenge and it didn’t go our way,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “That’s where you have to be able to get a kill and come up big and we were able to do that and I thought it built some momentum for us moving forward.”

With a delayed penalty upcoming on Detroit, Boldy put the puck low and through a crowd in front of Talbot to pull Minnesota back within a goal, only to see the Red Wings kill the ensuing Wild power play.

But they sent Fleury to the bench for an extra attacker with more than two minutes to play, and Marcus Foligno banked a shot off the goalie and in to forge a tie with 91 seconds left in regulation.

Talbot, the former Wild goalie and one of Fleury’s good friends, finished with 35 saves for Detroit.

By getting the start on Saturday, Fleury appeared in his 1,045th career NHL game, moving him into second place in the league’s record books for games played by a goalie. He is also second — to New Jersey legend Martin Brodeur — in minutes played and wins.

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