Minnesota Falls 3-2 to Irish in Opener

Minnesota Falls 3-2 to Irish in Opener

MINNEAPOLIS – Gopher Hockey’s final Big Ten series of the regular season opened on a sour note as Minnesota dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 16 Notre Dame on Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Minnesota (13-15-4 overall, 10-10-3-0 Big Ten) jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period with tallies from Brannon McManus and Nathan Burke only to surrender three unanswered goals to the Irish (17-11-3, 10-9-2-2) over the final 40 minutes of play.

After missing last weekend’s finale in Columbus, McManus contributed in his return to the lineup with his 12th goal of the year – jumpstarting the Gophers at 4:09 of the first period. Tommy Novak and Jack Sadek picked up assists. Sadek now has points in five of the last six games and seven of the last 10 contests. Burke added to the lead when he scored for the third-straight game at 12:00 of the opening stanza after being set up by BMW Line partners Sammy Walker. The defending Big Ten First Star of the Week now has six goals on the season and recorded his first career three-game point streak.

The Irish tied things up in the second period with a power-play goal from Colin Theisen at 2:47 and an even-strength goal from Cam Burke at 17:43. Theisen’s second of the night at 8:01 of the third period proved to be the game winner for Notre Dame.

The Gophers were outshot 26-31 in the series opener. Mat Robson made 28 saves in net for the Maroon & Gold, falling to 10-11-4 on the year. Cale Morris picked up the win with 24 saves, moving to 13-10-3. The Gophers were 0-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Minnesota closes out the weekend with an afternoon tilt against Notre Dame on Saturday at 3M Arena at Mariucci before hosting Arizona State (March 1-2). Saturday’s series finale with the Irish is set for 4:30 p.m. CT on FOX Sports North. Tickets are available at GopherSports.com.