Gophers men’s hockey travels north to Duluth to face the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs on Friday and Saturday for their first in-state series of the season.
The No. 6 Gophers enter the weekend with a 1-1 record after losing in the 2024 Ice Breaker Tournament title game in Las Vegas to No. 12 Omaha. The Gophers outshot the Mavericks three-fold but lost 2-1 in overtime.
Gophers head coach Bob Motzko said the team played well in the tournament but had some lapses in intensity and urgency. He added the team should move on from the loss since they had a solid performance overall.
“I’m not going to overanalyze,” Motzko said. “Turn the page and get back to work.”
The Bulldogs are 1-2 this season and are coming off a split series against the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Freshman Jayson Shaugabay and senior Dominic James lead Minnesota-Duluth in points with three each.
Last season, the Gophers split a home-and-home series against the Bulldogs. Minnesota won the first game at 3M Arena at Mariucci 5-1 but lost the second game in Duluth in a shootout despite tallying 50 shots on goal.
The teams have a historic rivalry dating back to 1952. Minnesota holds the lead in the all-time series record but has not won a game on Duluth’s ice under Motzko.
Junior forward Connor Kurth said winning away games with hostile crowd environments is a key element of college hockey. He said he is looking forward to the freshmen’s first experiences playing in a road rivalry series.
“I’m sure they’re really fired up to finally get chirped and have the other student section saying some not-so-nice things to you,” Kurth said.
The series against the Bulldogs will be the first taste of an in-state rivalry for the Gophers’ newcomers. Transfers junior Matthew Wood and graduate Liam Souliere did not play against Duluth with their former teams.
Wood assisted on three goals in Las Vegas, including Kurth’s hat-trick goal against Air Force. Kurth said the two have chemistry, so he hopes to play on a line with Wood more often.
“He knew that was for my hat trick, so he held on to that and gave me an easy tap-in when he could have scored his first,” Kurth said. “It’s just something that you can really build off of.”
Kurth leads the team in scoring after earning his first career hat-trick, including the game-winning goal, in the Gophers’ 7-1 win against Air Force. Motzko described Kurth as a rat goal-scorer because of his strong net-front presence.
“That’s the Connor we’ve been kind of waiting for,” Motzko said.
Minnesota’s six freshmen and two transfers debuted in the Ice Breaker tournament. Freshman Beckett Hendrickson scored his first collegiate goal against Air Force while freshman August Falloon assisted on Minnesota’s lone goal against Omaha.
Sophomore goaltender Nathan Airey saved 21 shots in the win against Air Force while Souliere had 16 saves in the loss against Omaha.
Last season, goaltender Justen Close started in 37 of the Gophers’ 39 games, leaving Airey to start in two. Kurth said having two potential starting goaltenders this year in Souliere and Airey is a luxury.
“Not a lot of schools are fortunate enough to have that,” Kurth said. “We know either way, whoever is kicking that night, that they’re going to be ready, and they’re going to be able to make a bunch of big saves for us.”
