After a slow start to his freshman season, Rhett Pitlick has been on a recent tear for the No. 5/6 Gophers men’s hockey team over their win streak that they extended to a season-best five games after defeating Penn State 3-1 Friday night with a depleted lineup.
Pitlick, coming into game one of their series against Penn State on a four-game point streak, extended it to five after scoring the game’s opening goal on a rebound 6:42 into the first period of play. Eight of his 15 collegiate points have come over this span.
With the Minnesota blueline depleted, graduate student Sam Rossini received more ice time and set up Pitlick’s goal after shooting the puck on net from the point. His assist marked his first point this season.
“We have all that we need and that’s been our team motto,” said Pitlick at a media availability on Tuesday. “I think it’s shown that we really do have all that we need…as long as we stick to our systems, we’ll be just fine.”
Minnesota (20-11) is 10-3 in the second half of the season. The win against Penn State marks the first time the Gophers have defeated the Nittany Lions at Pegula Ice Arena since February 18, 2017.
The Hockey Commissioners Association announced Friday that they added junior goaltender Justen Close to their watch list for the Mike Richter Award. Then he showed the college hockey world why they made that decision.
Close followed the announcement by making a career-high 37 saves on 38 shots faced. He holds an 8-3 record this season between the pipes for Minnesota.
“He’s the first guy on the ice, last one to leave,” said junior Bryce Brodzinski at a media availability on Tuesday. “We’re super excited that he’s doing well and having success. We’re super excited for him to have our back the rest of the season.”
Junior Jack Perbix recorded his second career multi-goal game for the Gophers to reach a career-high five goals and double-digits in points for the first time in his collegiate career.
With the game tied at 1-1 in the second period, junior Colin Schmidt intercepted a Penn State outlet pass at the top of the right circle and fed a cross-crease pass to Perbix. Then Perbix buried a one-timer with 4:38 remaining in the middle frame to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead.
Ultimately, Perbix’s first goal of the night proved to be the game-winning goal. The tally also marked the first point for Schmidt in a Gophers uniform.
Perbix went on to cement Minnesota’s victory after burying an empty-net goal.
Senior Blake McLaughlin set up Perbix’s second goal of the night to become the 86th player in program history to reach 100 career points (36 goals, 64 assists) in 134 games played. The assist also gives him a team-high 28 points on the year, which ties his career-best in a single season.
Penn State’s lone goal of the evening came with 59.6 seconds remaining in the first period as Ryan Kirwan buried a one-timer from the slot.
Minnesota sits with 46 points in the Big Ten standings. They are in second place in the conference behind Michigan, which leads the table with 48 points.
Freshman Chaz Lucius did not play in the contest after participating in warmups. He was out with an undisclosed injury and is not expected to play Saturday night, per Gophers head coach Bob Motzko. The update was initially reported by Jess Myers via Twitter.
With the Gophers depleted, they will get senior Ben Brinkman back on the blueline for game two Saturday at 5 p.m. as he completed his one-game suspension during Friday night’s game.
There’s also the possibility junior Jaxon Nelson returns from injury and the trio of Olympians – junior co-captain Ben Meyers, sophomore Brock Faber, and freshman Matthew Knies – re-enter the lineup for the Gophers.
