Gophers Men’s Hockey Team Faces Top-Ranked Michigan in a Hard-Fought Overtime Loss

The weekend of January 16 and 17 provided the Gophers men’s hockey team with an opportunity to measure themselves against the top-ranked team in the nation, Michigan. For a squad in the midst of a rebuilding season, this matchup was a significant test.

The game ended with a 3-2 overtime loss for the Gophers at the 3M Arena at Mariucci. Despite showing growth and receiving a strong performance from goalie Luca Di Pasquo, the Gophers left the arena feeling stunned and unsatisfied.

Jayden Perron scored the winning goal in the third period of 3-on-3 overtime, capitalizing on an errant drop pass by Gophers center Tanner Ludtke. He skated in alone and beat Di Pasquo, sealing the victory for the Wolverines. The Gophers (8-14-1, 4-8 Big Ten, 14 points) earned one point in the conference standings for reaching overtime, while the Wolverines (20-4, 11-3) secured two points in front of an announced crowd of 9,852.

Gophers coach Bob Motzko expressed his frustration after the loss, pointing out that Michigan scored all three of their goals on turnovers. “We had total control of the puck, and you can’t do that against Michigan,” he said.

On the winning goal, Ludtke was leaving the Minnesota zone when he dropped the pass back intended for Brody Lamb. The freshman didn’t get enough on his pass, allowing Perron to grab the puck and score. This goal was a setback for the Gophers, who played with more intensity and energy than they did in the series opener.

“We played better, but we’ve got to find consistency,” said Lamb. “Obviously, it stings. But we’ve got to learn from it.”

Lamb and Brodie Ziemer each scored second-period power-play goals for the Gophers, who erased a 1-0 Michigan lead. A night after tying his career high with 47 saves, Di Pasquo stopped 45 shots as Michigan outshot Minnesota 48-28.

“That’s a great team,” Di Pasquo said of Michigan. “We were that close. We just have to keep building off that.”

Key Moments from the Game

• Second Period: The Gophers came out with much more vim and vigor after trailing 1-0 and being outshot 15-3 in the first period. Jimmy Clark nearly scored from the blue paint, but Michigan goalie Stephen Peck made a pad save.

• Power Play Success: Minnesota’s first power play came at 4:31 of the second period when Michigan’s Luca Fantilli was called for hooking. After a few saves by Peck, LJ Mooney took a shot that trickled to the goalie’s right, and Ziemer knocked it home, tying the score 1-1 at 5:43.

• Gophers Take the Lead: With Michigan’s Aidan Park in the penalty box for slashing, Lamb hammered a shot past Peck from the right circle, giving the Gophers a 2-1 lead. Mittelstadt and Ziemer earned assists.

• Michigan Responds: Late in the second period, T.J. Hughes intercepted a Gophers pass and tied the score 2-2 with a shot past Di Pasquo.

• Third Period: Michigan carried play again, holding Minnesota without a shot on goal until 8:09 had expired. The Wolverines outshot the Gophers 16-4 in the third, but Di Pasquo remained solid.

Rebuilding Season Challenges

The Gophers sit in fifth place in the Big Ten and have a sub-.500 record, an uncomfortable spot for this program. From the start, this was going to be a challenging season for the Gophers based on what they lost from the 2024-25 squad.

Their top five scorers — Jimmy Snuggerud, Connor Kurth, Matthew Wood, Oliver Moore, and Sam Rinzel — plus standout defenseman Ryan Chesley, left early for pro hockey. Those six combined for 89 goals and 125 assists, or 57.8% of the Gophers’ goals and 47.9% of their assists last season.

The Gophers regularly use seven freshmen in their lineup this season, and the growing pains are apparent on the stat sheet. Last season, the Gophers averaged 3.9 goals per game and allowed 2.5 per contest. Entering Saturday’s game, the Gophers were scoring one goal less (2.9) and were giving up nearly a goal more (3.4) per game than last season.

Looking Ahead

Motzko felt his team was making strides late in the first half of the season. The Gophers gained only one of 12 standings points available against Penn State and Michigan to start January, and his hope is that they recaptured some momentum against the Wolverines.

“That’s what we have this year with this young group,” Motzko said. “We took steps the first half. Now, we’ve got to get it back the second half and continue to move forward.”

That won’t get any easier the rest of the way. They still have another series left with the Wolverines and No. 2 Wisconsin, plus two series against No. 4 Michigan State, which just swept Wisconsin and is host to Minnesota on Jan. 23-24.

“At this stage of the year, it’s gotta happen quick,” Lamb said. “We’ve got to figure it out.”