OT Win Gives Gophers Sweep, Pushes Streak to 8

Madison, WI – Connor Kurth scored the game tying goal late in the third and Brodie Ziemer won it in overtime as the Minnesota Gophers (9-1-0 Overall (1-1 OT), 3-0-1-0 B1G) beat the Wisconsin Badgers (2-8-0 (1-3), 1-2-0-3) Saturday night. The 3-2 win was Minnesota’s eighth victory in a row, and resulted in the Gophers taking five-of-six Big Ten points on the road this weekend.

Friday’s first period was marked by an absence of effort from the Maroon and Gold, but the Gophers came out firing Saturday, peppering Badger goalie William Gramme with 15 shots on goal in a scoreless opening stanza. Minnesota’s Liam Souliere stopped all nine Wisconsin shots in the first.

Brody Lamb finally got Minnesota on the board on the powerplay at 7:42 of the second period, on a nice second-effort at the net front off of a Jimmy Snuggerud rebound. The goal, Lamb’s sixth of the season to tie for the team lead, put the Gophers up 1-0.

The Lamb goal seemed to light a fire under the Badgers, who turned up the pressure late in the second period. Wisconsin took the lead on two goals in the last five minutes of the middle frame, including one in the final minute, to charge into the third with the momentum.

Minnesota now takes its eight-game winning streak to Bemidji. The Gophers play a Thursday-Saturday home-and-home with the Beavers next week.

The Badgers did come out hot in the third, getting a couple of early chances which Souliere was sharp on to keep the Gophers in the game. Minnesota slowly took control of the period, and earned a powerplay with just over 7 minutes left in the 3rd. Connor Kurth was able to score at 13:56 to tie the game at 2-2.

The game went into overtime, and in the end it was Brodie Ziemer with a beautiful out-of-midair tip-in goal off of a Jimmy Snuggerud pass 3:21 into the 3-on-3 period to win it 3-2 for Minnesota.

Ziemer’s game winner from B1G+

Liam Souliere was the winner between the pipes for the Gophers, making 31 saves on 33 shots. William Gramme was the tough-luck loser for the second night in a row, making 39 saves on 42 shots.

Minnesota lost freshman center Erik Pahlsson midway through the second period – he took a hard hit to the head (no penalty was called on the play) and crumpled down to the ice. Coach Bob Motzko said after the game that Pahlsson might be out for a while – more to come as we learn about the details of the injury.