Gophers Rally in Third to Escape with 4-3 Win Over Alaska-Anchorage
Minneapolis, MN – Sometimes, getting the win is the most important thing.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-4-3 Overall, 1-1-2 B1G) needed three third-period goals to escape with a 4-3 victory over Alaska-Anchorage (1-11-0) Saturday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci, avoiding what would have been a damaging loss to a Seawolves team that entered the weekend with just one win on the season. Minnesota trailed 2-1 entering the third period before Wyatt Cullen and Tanner Henricks scored to put the Gophers over the top.
The Maroon and Gold got off to a relatively quiet start, but the biggest moment of the opening period came with the Gophers killing their lone penalty of the night. Axel Löfgren was sent to the box for holding late in the period, and Minnesota’s penalty kill came up with a huge stop. The Gophers even managed to turn the kill into offense, as Jacob Kvasnicka broke in shorthanded and beat UAA’s Joey Rocha with 34 seconds remaining to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead.
First-year coach Brett Larson pointed to that sequence as one of the most important moments of the game, particularly with the penalty kill looking to get back on track.
The most important moment of the night I thought was our penalty kill. It’s been struggling, we’re trying to get it back on track. We get a huge kill at the end of the first, we get a goal shorthanded. That gave our team a huge boost going into the second period.
Brett Larson
Unfortunately for the Gophers, despite a strong second period, it was UAA that was able to put the puck into the Minnesota net. Anchorage tied the game at 1-1 when Ben Anderson beat Melvin Strahl at 11:25. The Seawolves then took the lead late in the period, with Connor Brown scoring at 18:48 to send Minnesota into the intermission trailing 2-1.
UAA goaltender Joey Rocha was a big reason the Seawolves remained in the game. Rocha turned aside several outstanding Minnesota opportunities, particularly during a second period in which the Gophers generated plenty of pressure but couldn’t find the back of the net. He finished the night with 35 saves on 38 shots, keeping his team within striking distance despite Minnesota holding a significant advantage in shots.
The Gophers finally broke through at 9:43 of the third period when Wyatt Cullen poked home a loose puck off an Austin Burnevik shot. Minnesota continued to push, and Tanner Henricks eventually gave the Gophers the lead with 3:27 remaining, finishing a play with assists from Brooks Cullen and Javon Moore.
Brooks Cullen then added his first goal in a Gopher uniform with an empty-netter at 19:21, seemingly putting the game away. But Alaska-Anchorage wasn’t quite finished. Jacob Terpstra scored with just 2.6 seconds remaining to make things interesting before the final horn finally sounded on a 4-3 Minnesota victory.
After the game, Larson acknowledged the importance of the result and the implications a loss could have had on Minnesota’s postseason hopes. With the NCAA tournament field determined by the National Pairwise Ranking (NPI), a loss to a team with UAA’s record would have been particularly damaging.
Not to be over-over-dramatic, but to be honest our season was on the line. We all know how the NPI works. We all know what a loss tonight would have done to us as far as our chances of making the NCAA tournament, and I thought our players stepped up, got better, found a way to win.
Brett larson
Larson added that while the coaching staff certainly felt the pressure of the situation, he was pleased with how the players responded rather than allowing frustration to take over.
I don’t know if the players felt it but the coaches did. We were lookin’ at each other a bit thinking ‘we need this one’, and they found a way to be able to get it done.
brett larson
The Gophers will now have a weekend off before returning to action in two weeks. Larson said the coaching staff plans to use the time to work on some situations that don’t always get as much attention during a normal practice schedule, including 6-on-5, 5-on-6, 4-on-3 and 5-on-3 scenarios. He also felt the break came at a good time after an extended stretch of home games, with the team looking forward to getting back on the road and testing itself in a hostile environment.
Minnesota will get that opportunity over Thanksgiving weekend with a home-and-home series against Minnesota State. The Gophers will host the Mavericks Friday afternoon at Mariucci before making the trip to Mankato for Saturday night’s finale.
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