MINNEAPOLIS — A fast start for No. 15 Minnesota propelled the home team to a 5-0 win over Penn State on Friday night.
The win put the Gophers in a tie for first place in the Big Ten with one game to go in the regular season. The tiebreaker goes to Michigan for seeding, but Minnesota can finish anywhere from first to third and is guaranteed no worse than second place if the Gophers can get at least one point Saturday.
The Gophers’ seniors have a rare chance in college sports. If Minnesota wins tomorrow, the senior class will have finished first in the regular season all four years of their college careers.
“It’s an opportunity [and] you only get some many opportunities in life,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. “More than that, it’s Senior Night and how important this game is to us tomorrow. We need to just focus on the process, focus on getting ourselves ready, so when the puck drops tomorrow, we give ourselves the best chance to win the game.”
The loss means the Nittany Lions can finish no higher than third place and will play next Thursday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
Minnesota dominated the first period, tallying three goals on eighteen shots.
Kyle Rau opened the scoring at 8:48 with power-play goal on a tip of a one-timer from Mike Reilly, who fired it from the blue line. Travis Boyd picked up the loose puck on the left side wall and fed Reilly for the second assist.
“I thought actually we came out okay, but we took a penalty and gave them one up,” Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky said. “Against a team with those offensive weapons and that power play, obviously that started the roll and I think they really took over from there.”
The Gophers made it 2-0 at 10:42 when Justin Kloos picked up a pass from Hudson Fasching off the right-side wall with a head of steam. He skated around the net and wrapped the puck inside the far post, beating Eamon McAdam.
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000yJv5rzMw9vk” g_name=”20150313-PennState-Minnesota-JGR” f_show_caption=”t” f_show_slidenum=”t” img_title=”casc” pho_credit=”iptc” f_link=”t” f_bbar=”t” fsvis=”f” width=”500″ height=”375″ bgcolor=”#AAAAAA” bgtrans=”t” btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” crop=”f” trans=”xfade” tbs=”4000″ f_ap=”t” linkdest=”c” f_fullscreen=”f” f_constrain=”f” twoup=”f” f_topbar=”f” f_bbarbig=”” f_htmllinks=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”f” f_show_watermark=”f” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”f” f_up=”f” target=”_self” wmds=”llQ6QNgpeC.p1Ucz7U.f22FRYhZw0m71ThQiwSbIdrJfFQyEc1HrjnZ1UGGzDBIUHdui0A–” ]Fasching added a goal at 14:57 when Reilly skated in deep and around the net finding a passing lane. Fasching one-timed the pass for the 3-0 lead.
Minnesota goalie Adam Wilcox (18 saves) made a highlight-reel save early in the first on a shot by Eric Sheid on a two-on-one break just four minutes into the period.
“It started with how well played defensively,” Lucia said. “Adam made a big save early in the game.”
The game settled down in the second period.
Penn State was able to draw three power-play chances that slowed the Gophers’ attack. But the Lions only amassed six shots in the period, all from far out. A one-timer by Casey Bailey from the top of the left circle on the power play was their only quality shot.
Penn State pulled McAdam with over three minutes left in the game, but Leon Bristedt scored the empty-netter at 16:45.
Vinni Lettieri capped off the scoring 28 seconds later. After the goal, Scott Conway elbowed Lettieri in the head, causing a scrum. Conway was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct.
“I think they did a great job,” Gadowsky said. “When you think of Minnesota’s defense, you think of great skaters, great puck movers, offensive chances. But I actually thought they did a tremendous job of defending today.”
“We played really good defensively,” added Rau. “They averaged 40 shots a game and we cut that in half.”
The same two teams close out the regular season Saturday night at 7 p.m. CDT.
