Gophers men’s hockey and the No. 6 Michigan Wolverines will face off this weekend at 3M Arena at Mariucci as two of the three remaining undefeated Big Ten teams.
Minnesota enters the series at the top of the Big Ten, boasting a 6-0-0 record against conference opponents, while Michigan is third with a 4-0-0 record.
Michigan leads the Big Ten in conference goals per game with an average of 5.5, two more per game than the Gophers. The Wolverines scored at least four goals in more than half of their games and claimed high-scoring contests like a 10-6 win over Penn State on Nov. 23.
Gophers head coach Bob Motzko described Michigan as fast, talented and good on special teams. Michigan’s power play is in the top ten in the NCAA, featuring eight players with at least one power-play goal.
While the Wolverines’ penalty kill is outside of the top 20 nationally, forward Garrett Schifsky’s three shorthanded goals are tied for the NCAA lead. Freshman and first-round NHL draft pick Michael Hage leads the Wolverines in scoring with nine points and eight assists for 17 points.
Gophers sophomore defender Sam Rinzel said Michigan is a sporadic team, so the Gophers need to stick to their well-structured defensive game to hold off Michigan’s high-powered offense.
“We’ll play defense first, the offense will come to us,” Rinzel said.
The Gophers return to Mariucci after tying and winning in a nonconference series against unranked Alaska last weekend. In both games, Minnesota allowed the first goal. Following the series, Minnesota dropped to fourth in the national rankings.
Motzko said the Gophers’ play is consistent, but allowing the first goal is an issue entering the matchup against the Wolverines. Minnesota’s opponents scored first in nine of 16 games this season.
Despite allowing the first goal in more than half of their games, the Gophers lost once when scoring second. Motzko said the team’s variety of scorers allows them to fight back from early deficits.
“We find ourselves down, someone finds a way to get us through,” Motzko said. “It seems like it’s somebody different every time, too.”
Last season against Michigan, that someone was then-freshman Jimmy Clark, who scored two goals to give Minnesota the win on Nov. 10, 2023. The Wolverines outshot the Gophers in the top-10 matchup but Clark’s third-period heroics helped Minnesota prevail.
“When we started the year we just threw him into a big role and he jumped right into it,” Motzko said.
Clark surpassed his point total of 11 from last year, with 13 points in 16 games this season. Motzko said Clark’s taken on a larger role this season, playing on the power play, penalty kill and as a center against opponent’s top players.
In Minnesota’s 5-2 win over Alaska, the Gophers entered the third period trailing 2-1. Junior Brody Lamb scored a shorthanded goal in the first minute, followed by three more goals for Minnesota.
“Our team never will give up,” Lamb said. “We always stay on the hunt, stay positive on the bench.”
Clark, Lamb and the rest of the Gophers take the ice at 7 p.m. for Friday’s matchup. Minnesota is organizing an ice out and encouraging fans to wear white for Saturday’s game.
