The fourth-ranked Golden Gophers men’s hockey team welcomes No. 6 Michigan to 3M Arena at Mariucci for a Big Ten Conference series Dec. 6-7 presented by M Health Fairview.
Game one is set for 7 p.m.
All fans coming to the game on Saturday will receive a free white rally towel thanks to Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union as part of the “Ice Out” festivities inside 3M Arena at Mariucci.
LAST TIME OUT
Minnesota kept its unbeaten streak on home ice intact (5-0-1) with a tie and win over visiting Alaska last weekend. It was a defensive battle Friday night as both sides mustered just one goal in a 1-1 draw before the Gophers found their offense late in the game Saturday. Brody Lamb’s shorthanded goal 38 seconds into the third period helped erase a one-goal deficit and sparked a four-goal frame in the 5-2 comeback win. Leo Gruba scored his first collegiate goal that held as the game winner and Liam Souliere made 21 saves to win for the second time in as many home starts.
BATTLE THROUGH EARLY DEFICITS
The Gophers have struggled to get off to a fast start of late and have allowed the opposition to score the first goal of the night nine times over their last 12 outings, including five-consecutive games. Minnesota has given up a first-period goal in eight of the past 10 games and trailed after 20 minutes of action in five of those contests, while leading at the first intermission only once. The early deficits have not deterred the team as it has rallied back to post a 7-1-1 record when allowing the opening tally this season and hold a 24-8 margin in third-period scoring in 2024-25.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
With an assist at Notre Dame (Nov. 22), Jimmy Snuggerud became the 89th player in program history to reach 100 career points and the second member of the family to do so. It took the junior 92 career appearances to reach the mark, one game fewer than his father, Dave, who recorded his 100th-career point in game number 93 back in 1988. The Snuggeruds are the only father-son duo in Minnesota men’s hockey history to both eclipse the century mark as Dave finished with 140 points, which ranks 38th all-time for the Maroon and Gold. Jimmy added two goals in the series finale versus the Irish and inched his way closer to another milestone, needing just one goal to reach 50 in his career.
LAMB STARS THE POWER PLAY
Brody Lamb continues to find offensive success after setting career highs in goals (12), assists (15), and points (27) a year ago. The Byron, Minn., native has a point in 12 of 15 outings this season, aided by a career-long, five-game point streak between Oct. 18 and Nov. 1. After a three-point series versus Alaska, he earned his second weekly award from the league office as the B1G Third Star of the Week (Dec. 3). He picked up the first honor following a four-goal weekend against St. Thomas, including his first NCAA hat trick, and was named the B1G Second Star of the Week (Oct. 29). All three goals of his natural hat trick Saturday were on the power play, and he has scored six of the Gophers’ 14 goals on the man advantage this year, ranking second in the NCAA. Lamb scored his team-leading 10th goal of the campaign against Alaska (Nov. 30) with his first-career shorthanded tally and ranks third in the country for total goals. He is the only NCAA player this season to score five or more power-play goals while also recording a shorthanded marker.
STRONG SOPHOMORE START
Goaltender Nathan Airey is fully healthy entering his second year of college hockey after missing nearly the entire first half of last season with an injury and is making a significant impact in the Minnesota net. He earned his first win during his college hockey debut at home last year against Robert Morris (Jan. 12) and is unbeaten in all nine of his starts to begin his sophomore campaign at 8-0-1. A native of Cochrane, Alberta, Airey is the only NCAA goaltender with more than six appearances to have not lost a single game this season. He owns a 2.21 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage in 2024-25 and given up two or fewer goals in five of nine outings.
HISTORY WITH THE WOLVERINES
Minnesota maintains the edge in the all-time series against Michigan behind a record of 155-136-20 (.531) but are just 2-4-1 in the last seven meetings. The two teams have split each of the last three series played at 3M Arena at Mariucci, while the Wolverines have won the postseason matchup in each of the past three years in Dinkytown. The two teams have met 50 times in their all-time history when both sides are ranked inside the top 10 with the Gophers holding a 27-22-1 advantage in those meetings. Head Coach Bob Motzko has a record of 16-10-4 against Michigan since taking over at Minnesota with 10 of those 30 outings going into overtime.
INSIDE LOOK AT MICHIGAN
The Wolverines enter the weekend series with 11 of a possible 12 points in Big Ten play and are coming off a home-and-home split against No. 7 Western Michigan where home ice was defended by each team. The 4-1 loss to the Broncos last Friday snapped Michigan’s six-game win streak that started after being shutout at St. Cloud State in Ann Arbor, Mich. More than a quarter of the Wolverines’ 51 goals this year have come via the man advantage as the team ranks 11th in the NCAA behind a 25.5 success rate. Both T.J. Hughes and Jacob Truscott have scored three times on the power play, while Garrett Schifsky has scored all three of the team’s shorthanded tallies to sit tied for the national lead. Freshman Michael Hage paces four players in double-digit scoring with 17 points thanks to a team-best nine goals. Goaltenders Logan Stein (6-2-0) and Cameron Korpi (4-1-1) have each earned seven starts on the year with goals-against averages of 2.45 and 2.82, respectively.
FRIDAY NIGHT HUGLEN
Coming off a career year in 2023-24 where Aaron Huglen reached double-digit goals (13) for the first time as a Gopher, he has continued to put his name on the scoresheet this season, especially in Friday night outings. The senior has a point in six of seven Friday games this year, totaling seven of his nine points. He has 30 goals and 33 assists for 63 career points across 128 appearances and is one point shy of reaching double digits for the fourth-consecutive campaign. Huglen also became the 15th player in program history to score a goal in three different NCAA Tournaments, a feat that had not been accomplished in more than 15 years, when he found the back of the net against Boston University in the 2024 NCAA Sioux Falls Regional Final.
DEFENSEMAN ‘U’
Minnesota was the lone college hockey program in the country with double-digit blue liners in the NHL last year. A total of 12 former Gopher defensemen took the ice in the NHL during the 2023-24 season, accounting for more than 750 games played. Highlighting the group was Brock Faber as he finished second in voting for the Calder Trophy given to the NHL’s rookie of the year. Nick Leddy and Erik Johnson both reached the 1,000-game milestone, becoming the eighth and ninth former Gopher to hit the mark.
COMFORTS OF HOME
Only once in the 31-year history of 3M Arena at Mariucci has Minnesota not posted a winning record inside its home building and that happened in 2010-11 when the team was 9-10-3. Since that year, the Gophers own a 178-69-17 record (.706) and have won double-digit home games each of the last 13 years. That includes a mark of 14-6-1 from last season, aided by the Maroon and Gold winning eight-straight games from Jan. 8 and Mar. 1, the longest home win streak since 2017. Under Coach Motzko’s guidance, the Gophers hold an 81-39-7 (.665) record on home ice, including a 48-17-2 (.731) mark across the previous four years. That stretch of quality play is aided by Minnesota dominating Big Ten foes, going 30-10-1 (.744) in conference outings inside 3M Arena at Mariucci since the start of 2021.
STAYING DISCIPLINED
A strength over the last six years for Minnesota has been playing a disciplined brand of hockey and avoiding trips to the penalty box. The Gophers ended the 2023-24 season as the nation’s leader in penalty minutes, averaging just 6.6 per game, and currently rank second at 5.7 a night through 16 games following a penalty free outing versus Alaska (Nov. 29). Three times over the last five seasons, the Maroon and Gold have finished a campaign as the NCAA’s least penalized team, and they have ended inside the top five every year since 2018-19. Under Coach Motzko’s direction, the team has never averaged double-digit penalty minutes per game for an entire season with the highest of 9.8 minutes in his first year behind the Gophers’ bench.
WE ARE THE STATE OF HOCKEY
According to data from College Hockey Inc., 249 NCAA Division I men’s hockey players hail from the state of Minnesota, nearly a quarter of all student-athletes, and more than double the next closest state. That total is bolstered by the Gophers lineup as 22 of their players this season will skate in their home state, including five of their eight newcomers. Even more impressive is the fact that 20 of the 22 Minnesotans on the team are from within 70 miles of campus.
SNUGGY TALKS
Jimmy Snuggerud
(info and photo courtesy of Gophers)
