'U' Closes Regular Season with Wolverines

MINNEAPOLIS - Fresh off its bye week, the eighth-ranked Minnesota men's hockey team puts the finishing touches on the 2023-24 regular season March 1-2. The Golden Gophers host No. 16 Michigan in a Big Ten Conference series at 3M Arena at Mariucci sponsored by Flint Hills Resources.

Both games will be shown live on Big Ten Network starting at 7:30 p.m. along with audio coverage on the Gopher Radio Network 1130 KTLK-AM/103.5 FM.

It'll be a Maroon Out at 3M Arena at Mariucci Friday, before a special day Saturday. Minnesota honors the 50th anniversary of its 1974 NCAA championship team during an in-game ceremony and closes the day by celebrating four members of the senior class.

POSTSEASON OUTLOOK
The Gophers have already clinched home ice for the first round and will host the quarterfinals of the 2024 Big Ten Conference tournament, an event they last won in 2021. The official matchups will be determined at the conclusion of this weekend's action as Minnesota and Michigan battle for the No. 3 and 4 seeds and will face off with either No. 5 Notre Dame or No. 6 Penn State. The postseason begins March 8-10 at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

WELCOME TO MY HOUSE
Minnesota is riding a seven-game winning streak inside 3M Arena at Mariucci, its longest streak since 2017. The Gophers have trailed for only two minutes and 26 seconds during that entire stretch, spanning 420 total minutes of action, and are outscoring their opponents by a 31-10 margin. The game-deciding goals came from five different skaters with Aaron Huglen and Jimmy Snuggerud each netting a pair. Six players are averaging at least a point per game in the streak, led by Rhett Pitlick and Sam Rinzel's 12 points, while Oliver Moore has 11. Justen Close holds a 1.33 goals-against average and a .953 save percentage during the stretch.

DIGGING THE GOLD
Since debuting their new alternate jerseys at home Jan. 8 against Colorado College, the Gophers have won all four times they've taken the ice donning the gold uniform. Not only is Minnesota winning those games, but it's also doing so in dominating fashion to the tune of 4.75 goals per game and just 1.50 goals allowed per game as it has outscored the opposition by a 19-6 margin. Goaltender Justen Close has stopped 98-of-104 shots put on target, while Jimmy Snuggerud and Aaron Huglen lead the offense with four goals in the four games wearing gold. Defenseman Sam Rinzel holds a plus-10 rating along with a team-high six assists.

BEST TO AVOID THE PENALTY BOX
The Gophers were called for double-digit penalty minutes in three-straight games during the season's first month but has drastically changed that narrative over the last three months. Minnesota now ranks second nationally, averaging 6.6 penalty minutes per game, sitting in the box for six minutes or less in 14 of the previous 16 outings. That includes a penalty-free contest in the final road test at Notre Dame (Feb. 17) and incorporates a home win versus Robert Morris (Jan. 13) where the team's only penalty came on matching minors as it did not allow a single power-play opportunity. The penalty kill has improved of late and only allowed two power-play goals over the past nine contests and just eight goals since the middle of November.

GETTING THE WINNER
In its 19 wins this season, the game-winning goal for Minnesota has come from nine different sources and it is one of five NCAA programs with multiple skaters that have four or more game winners. Jimmy Snuggerud is leading the way with five game-winning goals, two of which have come in overtime, to rank second in the conference and fifth in the NCAA. All four times Brody Lamb has claimed the deciding goal, it has been when the Maroon and Gold have been on the road and three were against teams ranked inside the top 10; No. 5 North Dakota (Oct. 20), No. 8/9 Michigan (Nov. 10) and No. 4 Wisconsin (Feb. 2). Aaron Huglen has accounted for three of the team's last six game winners since his first this season on Jan. 20. Bryce Brodzinski also has multiple game-winning goals with two, while Ryan Chesley, Jimmy Clark, Mike Koster, Oliver Moore, and Rhett Pitlick have tallied the other five game winners for the Gophers in 2023-24.

CLOSE THE SHUTOUT STAR
Justen Close was recently named a Mike Richter Award semifinalist for the second-straight year thanks to a 2.33 goals-against average, a .923 save percentage, and four shutouts this season. The graduate student has been nothing short of brilliant for the Gophers of late and was named the B1G First Star of the Week for two-consecutive weeks (Feb. 6 & 13). He did not allow a goal, stopping all 66 shots, against Penn State's 10th-ranked scoring offense during a weekend sweep and extended his career-long shutout streak to more than 190 minutes. Close posted consecutive shutouts for the third time in his career and second time this season, while the Nittany Lions were blanked in consecutive games for the first time in their history. In a split at No. 4 Wisconsin, he held the opposition to one goal each night on his way to weekly accolades, stopping 62-of-64 shots. He picked up the honor for the first time on Oct. 24 after turning away 57-of-59 shots faced against No. 5 North Dakota, including a 25-save shutout Oct. 20 and remains the only goalie this season to blank UND. The Kindersley, Saskatchewan, native used the back-to-back shutouts of Penn State to tie the all-time shutouts record in Minnesota history with the 13th of his career. Close has increased his career win total to 58, ranking seventh all-time at Minnesota, and owns a 5-1-1 record in his last seven starts behind a 1.35 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage.

HUGLEN COMING UP HUGE
Thanks to his first collegiate multi-goal outing against Penn State (Jan. 10), Aaron Huglen set a new career high in goals, surpassing the seven he scored as both a freshman and sophomore, and added his ninth of the year at Notre Dame (Feb. 16). The junior also tacked on an assist in the series opener versus the Nittany Lions to finish with three points during the weekend and earned B1G Third Star of the Week honors (Feb. 13), his first weekly award as a Gopher. He scored twice in a 3:22 span of the second period to break a scoreless tie and recorded his third game-winning goal in a seven-game stretch, one of four NCAA players with three game winners in that stretch. The Roseau, Minn., native has found his stride of late, recording six goals and 10 points in his last 11 appearances, including a pair of multi-point efforts to close the series against Penn State (Feb. 10) and Notre Dame (Feb. 17).

HISTORY WITH THE WOLVERINES
Minnesota continues to lead the all-time series against Michigan with a 154-134-20 (.532) record in a rivalry that extends back to 1923. The Gophers picked up four league points in a road trip to Ann Arbor, Mich., in early November with a win and shootout loss and were led offensively by two goals from both Jimmy Clark and Brody Lamb along with three Connor Kurth assists. Three of the five goals scored by the Wolverines on their home ice came via a man advantage as they managed just two even-strength goals in the weekend series. Minnesota is 14-8-3 across the previous 25 meetings, but just 7-6-1 in that stretch at 3M Arena at Mariucci. The two teams have met in four of the last five Big Ten Conference Tournaments where the Gophers hold a 3-2 edge in those postseason meetings.

INSIDE LOOK AT MICHIGAN
After a slow start to league play, the Wolverines are playing their best hockey of the season heading into the final weekend as they sit in fourth place in the Big Ten Conference standings with a chance to jump into the No. 3 seed. Michigan has won three of its last four outings after picking up a home sweep of Notre Dame last week. Goaltender Jake Barczewski was named B1G First Star of the Week as he allowed just one goal to the Irish and now has a 2.68 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage in 29 appearances. Gavin Brindley's 42 points paces the team, while he and Dylan Duke are tied for the league's goal-scoring lead with 20 this season. The Wolverines boast the NCAA's best power play at 35 percent and have 42 of their 137 total goals on a man advantage, leading to the third-highest scoring offense in the country at 4.3 goals per game.

READY FOR THE CHALLENGE
Thanks to the rise in quality of hockey across the Big Ten Conference, the full schedule for the Maroon and Gold is again a challenge from start to finish. After facing the nation's No. 2 strength of schedule according to USCHO last year, the 2023-24 slate is no different as 28 of 34 games have come against opponents ranked in the top 20 or receiving votes in the national polls. Minnesota holds a 5-2-3 record against top-10 opponents this season and faced seven-consecutive opponents ranked in the top 20 from Oct. 20 to Dec. 2. The Gophers have battled the third-toughest schedule in the country and recently closed a road stretch versus top-10 teams at No. 8/7 Michigan State and No. 4 Wisconsin with a 2-1-1 record.

MOTZKO'S HOME COOKING
Under head coach Bob Motzko's guidance, the Gophers hold a 73-37-6 (.655) record on home ice, including a 40-15-1 (.723) mark across the previous three years. That recent stretch of quality play is aided by Minnesota dominating Big Ten foes, going 25-8-1 (.750) in conference outings inside 3M Arena at Mariucci since the start of 2021.

DRAFT SPOTLIGHT FOR 13
Thirteen of Minnesota's 26 rostered players have heard their names called in the NHL Entry Draft since 2019, including a pair of first-round selections that are part of this year's freshmen class. The Gophers have had the most all-time draft selections (239) by any NCAA men's hockey program after adding four over the summer. At least one Gopher has been drafted in 49 of the last 50 NHL Entry Drafts dating back to 1974, with 2001 being the only exception. Boston College and Boston University are the only teams in the nation that have more draft picks (14) on their NCAA rosters for the 2023-24 season than Minnesota.

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Players Mentioned

Bryce Brodzinski

Ryan Chesley

Jimmy Clark

Justen Close

Aaron Huglen

Mike Koster

Connor Kurth

Brody Lamb

Oliver Moore

Rhett Pitlick

Sam Rinzel

Jimmy Snuggerud