Another Lopsided Loss, as Gophers Trounced 8-3 in Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI – Hockey is a fast game, and things can fall apart quickly, too.

It’s hard to imagine after having watched a five-goal blowout win by Michigan, but just past the halfway mark of the second period, the game was tied and the Gophers had the momentum. A decent first thirty minutes cannot make up for a 6-1 goal deficit in the final half, though. The Gophers (6-8-0 Overall, 2-1-0 B1G) suffered their first B1G loss of the season at the hands of the actually good Michigan Wolverines (9-2-3, 2-0-1), and will look to rebound in the second game of the series tomorrow.

The game got off on entirely the wrong foot, as Michigan’s Tyler Motte scored his 10th goal of the season just 16 seconds into the opening period. Hudson Fasching was able to tie it up just 14 seconds after that, so by 0:30 of the first period we already had two goals on the board.

Coach Lucia has often said that if this Gopher team is going to win, they’ll need to win 3-2 type of games. Being on pace to combine for 120 goals on the night after 30 seconds of play probably wasn’t in Lucia’s game plan.

Michigan got back on top at 6:30 of the first on a 2-on-1 goal. Although the teams were now on a much more manageable 27-goal pace, the game settled down from there and no more goals were scored throughout the first period.

Minnesota skated out in the second period and actually looked pretty good, maintaining puck possession and creating some scoring chances. The Gophers earned a tripping call at 9:50 of the middle period and capitalized just 19 seconds later at 10:09, when Tyler Sheehy found the back of the net to knot the game at two goals each.

You should stop reading this article now, though, because it only gets worse from here. I’ll give you the quick hits, because I’d really rather not relive it:

10:43 – Michigan Goal, 3-2
10:58 – Michigan Goal, 4-2
14:38 – Michigan Goal, 5-2
16:26 – Gopher Goal (Hudson Fasching), 5-3 [okay, okay, not bad, gotta get one to get the rest, keep chipping away…]

Period break

0:43 – Gopher powerplay [alright, here we go, get one here and we’re right back in it!]
2:43 – PP over [dang, oh well, keep fighting]
3:24 – Michigan Goal, 6-3 [damn]
13:18 – another Gopher powerplay
13:51 – Michigan shorthanded goal, 7-3
16:50 – Michigan Goal, 8-3

The Gophers go for the away split tomorrow at 7:30 PM Central time. The game can be seen on ESPNNews or the WatchESPN App.