A 5-2 third-period lead had been erased in minutes, and 
now Minnesota was looking to save its game.
With 2:07 left in overtime, St. Cloud State forward Jake Wahlin scored his second goal of the game to give the Huskies a 6-5 overtime win over No. 7 Minnesota (2-1-0) at its home-opener Friday night at Mariucci Arena.
“All of the sudden, we got on our heels,” said head coach Don Lucia. “We gave them too much room, we had some breakdowns, and it’s going to cost you, and it did tonight.”
Minnesota was up 5-2 with 9:37 left in the game. St. Cloud State forward Jacob Benson brought the game within two goals, and forward Mikey Eyssimont made it a one-goal game with 6:01 remaining in the third period.
No. 14 St. Cloud State (1-2-0) pulled its goalie with 2:14 left, and all Minnesota had to do was hold on.
The Gophers weren’t able to accomplish that.
Judd Peterson scored his second goal of the game to tie it up at 5-5 with 1:13 remaining. Minnesota held St. Cloud State from there in regulation, and later lost in overtime.
“We quit playing,” said senior captain Justin Kloos. “We didn’t finish the game.”
After being held to a combined 18 shots in the first two periods, St. Cloud State recorded 17 in the third period alone. Minnesota outscored the Huskies 4-2 in the first two periods.
On a positive note for Minnesota, forward Tyler Sheehy had a goal and two assists for the Gophers, and junior Leon Bristedt and sophomore Tommy Novak each scored their first goals of the season.
The line that shined brightest for Minnesota was the second line of Brent Gates Jr., Novak, and Sheehy. The group finished with five points.
St. Cloud State went 3-6 on the power play, while Minnesota went 2-5.
Goaltender Eric Schierhorn allowed six goals over 40 shots. The Huskies replaced their original goalie, Jeff Smith, early in the third period. His replacement Zach Driscoll recorded two saves in 19:18 of play as the Gophers only had six shots in the final regulation period.
The Gophers travel to St. Cloud tomorrow night to redeem themselves against the Huskies.
“At least we get to play tomorrow, “ Kloos said. “We [can] get our redemption tomorrow in St. Cloud.”
