Win Streak to 9 as Gophers Tame Beavers

Minneapolis, MN – Behind two goals from Brody Lamb, the Minnesota Gophers (10-1-0 Overall (1-1 OT), 3-0-1-0 B1G) survived a furious third period comeback attempt by the Bemidji State Beavers (4-6-0 (2-0), 2-3-1-0 CCHA) Thursday night. The 5-3 win extended Minnesota’s streak to nine games.

Brodie Ziemer and Jimmy Snuggerud connected in overtime Saturday night to beat Wisconsin last weekend, and they renewed the connection early in the first to give Minnesota the lead. Snuggerud found Ziemer on a two-on-one pass, and Ziemer made a nice move to beat BSU goalie Mattias Sholl and give Minnesota the 1-0 lead. The Gophers extended the lead to 2-0 less than two minutes later on a Brody Lamb powerplay tally at 5:42.

Bemidji scored on a powerplay of their own at 16:06 of the period to hang in there at 2-1, but Oliver Moore scored his second goal of the year on a tip from the mid-slot just 45 seconds later at 16:51 to give the Gophers an important two-goal lead going to the first intermission.

Despite dominating the play again in the second, Minnesota couldn’t quite put away the pesky Bemidji team, and the Beavers jumped on an opportunity to draw within one. 3rd-line center Reilly Funk blocked a Mike Koster slap shot in the high slot and the puck spat right back past Koster and into the neutral zone. Funk put on a burst of speed and beat Gopher goalie Nathan Airey on a breakaway at 6:09 to pull one goal down at 3-2.

The Gophers fought back, continuing to pressure the Beavers, and finally getting another goal past Sholl when John Mittelstadt scored his first goal of the season at 9:50 of the second, with Nick Michel earning his first D1 point as a Gopher on the primary assist. The goal (a rather soft one for Sholl, given his heroics throughout the rest of the game) gave Minnesota another two-goal cushion heading into the third.

Bemidji is a Tom Serratore coached team, which means they work hard and never quit. They sure didn’t in the 3rd, getting a goal about midway through the period to again draw within one at 4-3. From then on, it was an all-out blitz, as the Beavers pressed hard seeking that tying goal (and from the looks of it Minnesota was mostly content to let them do it). Bemidji generated quality chances and made Nathan Airey work for the win, even hitting the crossbar in the final few minutes. It never really felt safe for the Gophers until Brody Lamb scored his second of the night on the empty net with just over one minute left in the third to give Minnesota its two-goal lead again at 5-3.

Lamb’s two goals led the way for the Gophers, but Oliver Moore and Jimmy Snuggerud each picked up two points as well. The three stars of the game were (3) Snuggerud, (2) Moore, and (1) Lamb, but I’d give an honorable mention to John Mittelstadt, who had perhaps the most quality scoring chances of any Gopher player.

The Gophers head up north for the back half of this home-and-home series, looking for the sweep at the Sanford Center in Bemidji in what would be their 10th will in a row. The two teams have a day off Friday before taking the ice Saturday night for a 6PM puck drop. The game can be seen on Fox 9+, streamed on CCHA.tv, and heard on AM1130 / FM103.5.