The No. 8 Gophers men’s hockey team’s comeback fell short in a 3-2 loss against Alaska Saturday night in a physical, heavy-hitting contest. Alaska split the series and snapped Minnesota’s three-game winning streak to open up the new year.

“[I’m] really disappointed in our group tonight, especially the upperclassmen. One line was minus three,” Gophers head coach Bob Motzko said. “We were conveniently good when it was convenient for us tonight…we chased the game, and we deserved to lose.”

Referring to Motzko’s disappointment in his upperclassmen, the Blake McLaughlin-Sammy Walker-Bryce Brodzinski line was on the ice for all of Alaska’s goals in Saturday’s contest.

As the Gophers (13-9) attempted to mount a late, third-period comeback, McLaughlin received a five-minute major and game misconduct for cross-checking an Alaska player behind the Nanooks’ net with 6:58 remaining in the game to erase Minnesota’s power play.

Then, Alaska took another penalty with 6:17 remaining to give the Gophers a 4-3 opportunity for 15 seconds. Minnesota couldn’t convert, and then they spent most of the remaining time of the game killing the rest of McLaughlin’s major penalty.

“We had some freshmen that were going like heck, and we got some, but we have to have everybody committed to that,” Motzko said. “Bad penalty at the end.”

Although Minnesota dominated most of the game, Alaska was opportunistic and capitalized on scoring chances.

The Nanooks opened up the scoring just 59 seconds into the game. Filip Fornaa Svensson found himself all alone in front of the Gophers’ net and buried a backhander over junior goaltender Justen Close’s right shoulder, who was left out to dry.

As the second period got underway, the Gophers started to push back. McLaughlin worked his way to the left circle and fired the puck into the upper left corner of Alaska’s net to tie the game at 1-1 5:43 into the period after junior Matt Staudacher sprung a bank pass to him up ice.

But the Nanooks had a quick opportunistic answer. Just 13 seconds after McLaughlin’s equalizer, the Gophers turned the puck over in their defensive zone, and Brayden Nicholetts made them pay to put Alaska back in the lead at 2-1.
Minnesota outshot the Nanooks 12-6 in the second period but could not execute any opportunities, and then Alaska’s Markus Komuls extended their lead to 3-1 with 2:02 remaining.

“Our defenseman makes an up the gut pass, turns it over, and we’re down 2-1,” Motzko said. “We had a really poor back check. A simple hockey back check. We don’t do [it] right, and it’s 3-1.”

The Gophers got off to an early start in the third period as it only took them 18 seconds to cut into Alaska’s lead.

Freshman Chaz Lucius buried his eighth goal of the season after gathering a loose puck in front of Alaska’s goal after junior Jackson LaCombe shot the puck on the net.

In the stunning loss, Minnesota’s powerplay struggled Saturday, going 0-7, while not converting any power plays throughout the entire weekend as they went a collective 0-10.

Minnesota’s offensive attack was led by freshman Matthew Knies, who recorded a team-high seven shots on goal and assisted on Lucius’ goal. He was everywhere on the ice but could not capitalize on any of his chances.

“He [Knies] plays hard, he plays the right way, and he’s super consistent,” Lucius said of his “nine” line linemate. “You know what you’re going to get out of him.”

Knies, the Phoenix, Ariz. native, ranks second on the Gophers in points with 22 (eight goals, 14 assists).

Nanooks’ goaltender Gustavs Grigals made 36 saves in Alaska’s victory with a .947 save percentage.

“He was excellent tonight, ” Close said. “He was very active, and he battled, and he gave them a chance, and obviously they took it.”

As the final buzzer sounded at the end of the physical game, there was a big scrum, and the referees handed out a bunch of penalties as there was a collective 84 penalty minutes between the two teams.

Minnesota hosts Michigan (18-6-1) on Friday, Jan. 21, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 22, at 6:30 p.m. as the Gophers search to take back first place in the Big Ten standings.