Gophers split series with MSU following 4-1 win

Photo from Gopher Sports

Friday night’s loss to Minnesota State at home — the first loss for the Gophers men’s hockey team since November — didn’t have a lot of time to sulk on the minds of the players as Minnesota traveled to Mankato Saturday night and defeated the Mavericks, 4-1, to split a home-and-home series with the in-state rivals.

Four different players scored for Minnesota as they picked up their 18th victory of the year with a record of 18-4-4 overall.

Junior defenseman Justin Holl came through for Minnesota’s first goal in the opening period — snapping a 42-game goal drought for the Minnetonka, Minn. native. Nate Schmidt followed up in the same period with a power play goal.

Zach Budish would score Minnesota’s third goal of the game in the third period before Minnesota State got on the board with less than eight minutes remaining in the final period.

Minnesota State, the No. 14 team in the country, falls to 10-9-1 in conference play and a 16-9-3 record overall.

Kyle Rau led both teams with two points in the game and freshman Adam Wilcox made 26 saves, stretching his WCHA leading record to 17-3-4.

Minnesota will have an off-week before traveling to St. Cloud State’s campus for a series that starts on Feb. 8.