The No. 18/17 Golden Gophers men’s hockey team had their six-game unbeaten streak snapped Saturday night in a 6-0 loss to No. 1 Wisconsin inside 3M Arena at Mariucci.
Minnesota (3-4-3 overall, 1-1-2 B1G, 4 points) gave up three goals, including two power-play tallies, in a span of 2:25 of the middle frame that turned a close, one-goal game versus the rival Badgers (7-0-1 overall, 3-0-1 B1G, 11 points) into the first home loss of the season. A rare, undisciplined evening from the Gophers proved costly as Wisconsin scored three times on the man advantage Saturday.
Playing its annual “Gold Out” game in front of a sellout crowd, the Maroon and Gold put together a pair of strong opening shifts. The visitors fought back and pushed up the ice before plowing through goaltender Melvin Strahl on a rebound for a play the officials deemed a goal at 1:47. A video review confirmed the puck did not cross the goal line, and it remained 0-0 on the scoreboard. Three minutes later, Wisconsin broke through by finishing a rebound following a blocked shot from the point.
With 11:25 to play in the first period Austin Burnevik batted a Christian Humphreys pass out of mid-air and past the netminder to pull the Gophers even, 1-1. The Badgers challenged the call for goaltender interference and after a lengthy review, the officials deemed contact was made, and the goal was wiped off the board.
In the final second of the first period, Minnesota earned a power play as LJ Mooney was slashed on his way to the goal and the man advantage carried into the second stanza while the teams were already skating 4-on-4. Brodie Ziemer came an inch away from scoring as his bid from down low rang off the post and the 4-on-3 chance was erased by the visitors. Jacob Kvasnicka’s speed allowed the freshman a breakaway a minute later that had to be denied as the Gophers started to generate momentum on their side.
The game changed in an instant when Wisconsin moved to its first power play at 7:02 as Minnesota was called for a major penalty during a faceoff battle. The visitors struck for a 2-0 lead 90 seconds into the man advantage and added another less than a minute later for a commanding three-goal cushion. A penalty to the Badgers negated the remainder of the 5-on-4, but back at even strength, a long rebound found its way to the back of the net at 11:02 and the margin swelled to 4-0. The Maroon and Gold got another power-play chance in the final four minutes of the frame where it put three shots on target before it expired and it stayed a four-goal deficit at intermission.
Penalties to both teams in the opening two minutes of the final frame gave each side brief man advantages. The Badgers tacked on their fifth and sixth goals in the middle of the period and limited Minnesota down the stretch on the way to the Gophers’ first home loss of the year.
Noteworthy
The Gophers were shutout for the first time since Jan. 9, 2026, versus Penn State … Burnevik, Evan Murr, and Ziemer each tallied four shots to lead the offense … Minnesota’s power play was held scoreless on five chances despite putting eight shots on target … Strahl finished the night with 32 saves as he suffered the first loss of his collegiate career and is now 4-1-1 in NCAA play … After not being called for a penalty during the entire game Thursday, a major penalty on Minnesota Saturday proved to be a critical factor in the contest as the Badgers went 2-for-3 on the extended power play and 3-for-5 for the contest overall … The two teams combined for 55 penalty minutes as the Badgers rank among the nation’s leaders for penalty minutes per game, fourth at 18.4 minutes per game, while the Gophers sit 60th of 63 teams averaging just 6.6 minutes per game … The announced attendance of 10,473 was the third sellout of the year for the Maroon and Gold.
Coach Larson’s Comments
“Obviously, the discipline part of the game just killed us tonight. You can’t beat the top team in the country playing disciplined hockey, and it definitely hurts,” Minnesota head coach Brett Larson said. “I thought a tale of two games up until the major. One, they were giving it to us pretty good. And then I thought we kind of turned that, and we were giving it to them pretty good. And then the major kind of changed everything.”
Larson spoke to Wally Shaver and Eric Schierhorn on the Gopher Sports Network from Learfield:
Brett Larson
Next Up: Home vs. Alaska Anchorage (Nov. 13-14)
Minnesota continues its historically long homestand Nov. 13-14 when it hosts the Seawolves of Alaska Anchorage for a nonconference series inside 3M Arena at Mariucci.
(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
