In control of their destiny with a chance to cement their place atop the conference standings, No. 4 Minnesota did just that. They swept Wisconsin Saturday evening after dominating the Badgers in an 8-0 victory on senior night in their regular-season finale to win the 2021-2022 Big Ten Regular-Season Title.
The Gophers, who swept the Badgers en route to their eighth-straight win that marked their longest win streak of the regular season, are the Big Ten Regular-Season Champions for the first time under head coach Bob Motzko and the first time since the 2016-2017 season.
“We were just a consistent hockey team from the start of the year and through. A lot of things happened to us and nothing fazed us,” Motzko said. “We kept getting better all season long…and everyone’s contributed. I think that’s another great thing we got going.”
Before the halfway mark of the opening frame, Wisconsin scored a goal 7:37 into the first period. However, the referees disallowed the goal due to goaltender interference on junior Justen Close. Then, Minnesota came alive as their rout against Wisconsin was on as all eight of their goals came from eight different skaters.
“[Close] was interfered with and then we score right after, so it was a huge change,” Motzko said. “What an unbelievable crowd. The student section was terrific. A little bit of an old feel in the building this weekend. Gopher fans are still there. They aren’t going anywhere.”
After recording his first career hat trick in Friday night’s win, junior co-captain Ben Meyers followed that by scoring his team-leading fourth game-winning goal this season 9:04 into the first period. He also added a primary assist to finish the weekend with five points.
Then, just 21 seconds after Meyers’ opening tally, freshman Tristan Broz found open space in the slot to receive a pass from junior Jackson LaCombe and buried the puck into the back of the net to quickly extend Minnesota’s lead to 2-0.
Wisconsin’s Roman Ahcan received a five-minute major for boarding senior co-captain Sammy Walker as the Badgers tried to push back in the second. Then, junior Bryce Brodzinski received a minor penalty for cross-checking Ahcan, so the Gophers earned a three-minute power play after two minutes of 4-on-4 action.
Flying out of the box, Brodzinski put Minnesota up 3-0 as he scored his fourth power-play goal this season just 18 seconds after his penalty ended.
Walker took a penalty near the end of the second period. Then, like Brodzinski, he scored 21 seconds after being released from the box to tie his career-high in goals (13) and extend Minnesota’s lead to 4-0 early in the third period.
The Gophers went on to add four goals in the last 7:04 of the game from sophomore Mike Koster, freshmen Matthew Knies and Rhett Pitlick, and senior Grant Cruikshank as they all scored in the third period. Minnesota outscored the Badgers 13-0 in the series.
Close recorded his second career shutout after making 24 saves, both of which came this weekend to finish the regular season with an 11-3-0 record between the pipes.
Led by Broz, who tallied three points en route to his first career multi-point performance, five skaters recorded multi-point games in the rout as 16 skaters also recorded at least one point.
“I feel like we’re playing really good team hockey right now,” Close said. “[The] crowd was awesome. It was great to see a packed house…I think our guys feed off of that a lot.”
Through a rollercoaster of a season, Minnesota’s hot streak down the stretch propelled them to a regular-season record of 23-11 as their depth fueled them over that span.
With the win, the Gophers have earned a first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament.
“This is a fun team. We got a good group and we’re deep,” Walker said. “We just got to keep the train rolling [and] keep playing the right way.”
