The Gophers took the first game in the weekend series against rival Minnesota-Duluth 5-4 in dramatic fashion.
Minnesota went up 2-0 early in the game off of goals by Erik Haula and Kyle Rau, and ultimately finished with an overtime goal that silenced Amsoil Arena.
The Gophers held a two-goal lead at the end of the first period, but the Bulldogs responded when UMDâÄôs Caleb Herbert scored 5:12 into the second frame to put the Bulldogs on the board.
Then tempers started to flair.
Travis Oleksuk scored less than two minutes later following a Zach Budish game misconduct penalty, which knotted the game at two goals apiece.
The BulldogsâÄô Luke McManus was called for a game misconduct penalty of his own, barely a minute into BudishâÄôs penalty time.
Joe Basaraba of UMD was then called for elbowing and Rau tallied his second power play goal of the night on the ensuing four-on-three to give the Gophers the 3-2 lead in the penalty-ridden second period.
Drew Olsen scored a goal late in the second to tie the score at 3-3 heading into the third period.
Both goalies put on a show on the night as a plethora of shots were fired from all over the ice. MinnesotaâÄôs Kent Patterson faced 50 shots on the night, while Kenny Reiter saw 44 shots fired his way.
Justin Crandall gave UMD the lead with two minutes remaining in the game and it seemed the game was slipping away for the Gophers. But after pulling Patterson to gain an extra attacker, Haula netted the game-tying goal with 44 seconds left in the game as the puck caromed off the skate of UMDâÄôs Chris Casto.
Nate Condon clinched the game for the Gophers 4:04 into the overtime when he batted a low shot out of mid-air and into the net.