Gophers Fall to Michigan in B1G Title Game

MINNEAPOLIS – An early goal and a pair of late tallies couldn’t bring the Gopher men’s hockey team’s winning streak to double digits on Saturday night as No. 2/3 Minnesota fell 4-3 to No. 4 Michigan in the Big Ten tournament Championship game at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

In front of a tournament and 3M Arena at Mariucci record crowd of 10,774, Minnesota (24-12-0) scored once in the opening minute of play and twice in the final minute of play as the program’s nine-game winning streak was snapped by the Wolverines (29-9-1), who scored four goals in between the Minnesota tallies.

Jaxon Nelson opened the game with a goal 32 seconds into the first period for his sixth of the year while Matthew Knies scored his 11th and 12th goals of the year at 19:03 and 19:55 of the third period, respectively. Both tallies from Knies came on power-play strikes with an extra Attacker on for the Gophers. Jackson LaCombe led the Maroon & Gold with a pair of assists. Michigan Featured four different goal scorers.

Minnesota was outshot 31-28 in the conference Championship game with Justen Close making 27 saves to move to 12-4-0 on the year. Erik Portillo made 25 saves for Michigan to move to 29-9-1.

Noteworthy

Minnesota made its fourth Big Ten title game appearance on Saturday and moved to 2-2 in the game… the Gophers are 11-8 all-time in the Big Ten tournament and 4-2 against Michigan in the tournament.

Next Up: Selection Sunday

The Gophers will learn where they are headed for the NCAA tournament on Sunday, March 20 as the NCAA Selection Show airs on ESPNU at 5:30 pm CT.