The Minnesota men’s hockey team earned a split tonight with Michigan Tech ñ edging the Huskies 3-1 at Mariucci Arena.

Much like last night, a single penalty played a huge factor in the game’s outcome, but this time the product worked out to the Gophers’ favor.

During the first period, Tech forward junior Malcolm Gwilliam was given the gate when he checked junior defenseman R.J. Anderson from behind.

The ejection forced Huskies coach Jamie Russell to juggle his lines and replace one of his top point-getters, but Russell said after the game that his team was not happy that it had to settle for a split.

“No way, you get Friday night’s win and you’ve got two points in your back pocketÖyou have to find a way to win. If you want home ice in the playoffs, there is no way you can be content with a split,” Russell said. “You win Friday night, you better put the pedal to the metal and come out of here with four (conference points).”

Senior forward Mike Howe was led the Gophers, scoring a pair of goals including the eventual game-winner.

With one goal all season coming into the game, tonight Howe showed he is back to form after suffering a head injury last month.

“I felt good out there this weekend. I got my wind back,” Howe said.

Sophomore forward Kyle Okposo added an insurance goal in the third period to end the scoring for the evening.

“Getting the third goal was so criticalÖit was the big difference for us tonight,” coach Don Lucia said.

Senior forward Peter Rouleau scored the Huskies lone goal in the second when he poked a loose puck into the net for his fourth goal of the season.

But that would be all junior goalie Jeff Frazee would allow ñ he ended the night with just 18 saves, but that was largely due to a stingy defense according to Lucia.

“We shut the door on them defensively,” the Gophers coach said.

A night after being out-shot by the Huskies, Minnesota reciprocated the statistic tonight by out-peppering its opponent 37-19.

Both teams failed to convert a power-play chance as well tonight ñ Tech went 0-for-5 and Minnesota went 0-for-3 including a five-minute advantage for the Gwilliam penalty.