Five-on-five, St. Cloud State outscored top-ranked Minnesota 1-0.
Unfortunately for the Huskies, it was the three goals that the nation’s best power play scored that spelled the difference in Minnesota leaving the National Hockey Center with a 3-1 win Friday afternoon.
With a 26.1 percent efficiency and two of the nation’s top five power-play goal-scorers, the Gophers are a threat any time they are given the man-advantage and Friday was no exception.
Kelly Stephens scored 11 minutes, 29 seconds into the opening period, converting Minnesota’s first power-play chance, with Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell making tic-tac-toe passes to get her the puck on the left edge of the goal crease.
The Gophers took a 2-0 lead just 1:18 into the second period on a similar passing play, with Darwitz feeding Wendell, who steamed down the slot and beat Husky goalie Ellen Brinkman to her glove side.
At that point, the Gophers had 5-1 advantage in power-play chances and a 2-0 lead.
The Huskies cut the lead in half when Kobi Kawamoto took a feed from teammate Ashley Stewart and a shot to the ribs from Gopher Jerilyn Glenn, but not before she snapped a wrister through traffic and past Jody Horak.
The scored remained 2-1 until deep into the third period when Wendell scored from the right side of the crease. The Gophers moved the puck around the perimeter until Ashley Albrecht passed the puck into the middle. La Toya Clarke tipped puck to Wendell, who was left alone and buried her 26th goal of the season.
Minnesota finished the game 3-for-6 on the power play while the Huskies, who had three chances in the third period, were 0-for-4.
Brinkman stopped 37 shots to keep St. Cloud State in the game, as the Huskies were outshot 40-19. Horak stopped 18 shots for the Gophers.
Minnesota (25-4-2 overall, 18-3-2 WCHA) clinched its third league title in four years and will conclude the regular season by traveling back to St. Cloud State (7-23-1, 4-18-1) for a 7:05 p.m. CST game Saturday.
