University of Minnesota Athletics
Thursday, March 5
3M Arena at Mariucci
7:00 PM
University of Minnesota
11-21-2, 7-15-1
1
vs
7
Michigan State
25-7-1, 16-6-1
1
2
3
F
Michigan St.
1
4
2
7
Minnesota
0
0
1
1
Team Stats
MSU
MIN
Shots
45
24
PPG
2
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
3
3
Penalty Mins
6
6
Faceoffs Won
45
26
Game Leaders
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
0
+/-
0
Goals
0
Sh
1
A
1
+/-
-2
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
0
Players Mentioned
Goaltender
/ Men's Hockey
Goaltender
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's HockeyForward
/ Men's Hockey
Defense
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's Hockey
Photo by: Ceci De Young
Photo by: Ceci De Young
Photo by: Ceci De Young
Photo by: Ceci De Young
Photo by: Ceci De Young
Photo by: Ceci De Young
Photo by: Ceci De Young
Photo by: Ceci De Young
Photo by: Ceci De Young
Photo by: Ceci De Young
Photo by: Ceci De Young
Photo by: Claudia Staut
Photo by: Ceci De Young
Photo by: Ceci De Young
Photo by: Ceci De Young
Photo by: Claudia Staut
Photo by: Claudia Staut
Photo by: Claudia Staut
Photo by: Claudia Staut
Photo by: Claudia Staut
Photo by: Claudia Staut
Photo by: Claudia Staut
Photo by: Claudia Staut
Photo by: Claudia Staut
Photo by: Claudia Staut
Photo by: Claudia Staut
Photo by: Claudia Staut
Photo by: Claudia Staut
Gophers Fall to B1G-Champion Spartans Thursday
3/5/2026 10:00:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Senior Night Friday at 7 p.m.
MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota men's hockey team was handed a 7-1 loss Thursday night against No. 2/3 Michigan State inside 3M Arena at Mariucci.
The Golden Gophers (11-21-2 overall, 7-15-1 B1G, 25 points) were unable to slow down the Spartans' (25-7-1 overall, 16-6-1 B1G, 50 points) offense as the visitors struck four times in the second period, breaking the game open and outright claiming their third-consecutive Big Ten Conference regular-season title. Minnesota shared the league title with MSU a season ago and still holds a record seven championships since B1G hockey was started.
The Maroon and Gold were gifted an early power play just 1:07 into the contest as MSU was called for having too-man-men on the ice. Despite quality shots on target, including a point-blank chance from the slot by Erik Påhlsson, could not get the opening tally as the man advantage was erased. The visitors used the momentum from the kill and took a 1-0 lead at 5:05 converting a 2-on-1 following a giveaway at center ice.
With the ice tilted in favor of the Spartans, the Gophers relied on goaltender Luca Di Pasquo to deliver critical saves through the remainder of the period to keep it a one-goal deficit at intermission.
Michigan State stayed on the attack beginning the second stanza and pushed its shot total to double that of Minnesota only to be denied at each opportunity by Di Pasquo. The forechecking pressure continued and the visitors eventually added to their lead at the 8:36 mark by taking advantage of a broken play after a blocked shot by the Gophers.
The Maroon and Gold went to its second power play less than a minute later that again went unsuccessful and the margin remained 2-0 for the Spartans. Seconds after the penalty expired, Di Pasquo stood tall to shut down a breakaway before Mason Moe danced around a defender for a shot of his own at the other end of the rink.
An unfortunate bounce off the back of the Minnesota net gave the visitors another close-range try and tucked home their third goal with 6:22 to play in the middle frame. MSU went to its first man advantage in the final three minutes and stretched its lead to 4-0 just 17 seconds into the chance and put home another goal before the period ended.
The Gophers switched netminders for the final frame as Nathan Airey took over between the pipes. MSU's pace did not diminish as it continued to send extra players into the rush and made it 6-0 less than two minutes into the third. The Maroon and Gold would not go down quietly and used a Javon Moore cross-ice feed to the stick of Tanner Ludtke to break the shutout bid at 12:11 to a raucous cheer from the home crowd. Ludtke ripped home a shot from the right circle over the sprawling goalie's glove.
Minnesota had a chance to tighten the gap even more with a power play late in the game that was thwarted. Two penalties within 35 seconds of each other over the last three minutes gave the Spartans a 5-on-3 and converted on the first attempt to close out the game, 7-1, and secure the B1G title over idle Michigan.
Noteworthy
Ludtke put away his sixth goal of the campaign and second over the past three appearances to extend his point streak to three games ... The junior has five points in the last eight contests and 14 points this season ... For the fifth-straight game, Moore added his name to the scoresheet, stretching his season-long point streak behind his 13th helper ... The freshman has six points in that span, becoming the fifth Gopher to reach 20 points overall ... Leo Gruba picked up the secondary assist on the lone tally Friday, his fifth assist this year and now has seven points ... The blue liner from Lake Elmo, Minn., recorded his first point since scoring a power-play goal against Wisconsin on Jan. 31 ... Facing his former team, Di Pasquo closed the night by making 26 saves in two periods of work ... Airey made his first appearance in net since Feb. 6 and turned away 12 shots during the third period ... Brody Lamb blocked a team-best four shots in the outing of the team's 19 total ... Luke Mittelstadt skated in the 150th game of his four-year career wearing the Maroon and Gold Friday ... The seven goals surrendered in the series opener were the most allowed in a single game in 2025-26 ... The Gophers dropped to 4-13-1 this season when allowing the opposition to score the game's first goal ... Minnesota was 0-for-3 on the power play, while MSU went 2-for-3 ... The Gophers are now 0-5-2 over the last seven meetings with the Spartans.
Coach Motzko's Comments
"I wish I had an answer to how, one week ago, we could play 120 minutes and six periods so strong, and then we turn around tonight and, you know, we have not seen that out of this group," Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. "We have to bury it quickly, and we have got to respond, because we're playing for marbles now, and our guys know it. But the beauty of sports is we get to play again tomorrow, and we get to play again on Wednesday. And we've got to show some Gopher fight in us."
Next Up: Home vs. No. 2/3 Michigan State (Mar. 6)
Minnesota takes to the ice for its final regular-season matchup, taking on the recently crowned B1G-champion Spartans Friday night at 7 p.m. The Gophers will honor their 1976 NCAA Championship team for a 50-year reunion during the first intermission before celebrating the current senior class postgame. Fans can watch the game live on FOX9+ or listen to an audio broadcast via the Gopher Radio Network 103.5 FM/AM-1130 KTLK.
The Golden Gophers (11-21-2 overall, 7-15-1 B1G, 25 points) were unable to slow down the Spartans' (25-7-1 overall, 16-6-1 B1G, 50 points) offense as the visitors struck four times in the second period, breaking the game open and outright claiming their third-consecutive Big Ten Conference regular-season title. Minnesota shared the league title with MSU a season ago and still holds a record seven championships since B1G hockey was started.
The Maroon and Gold were gifted an early power play just 1:07 into the contest as MSU was called for having too-man-men on the ice. Despite quality shots on target, including a point-blank chance from the slot by Erik Påhlsson, could not get the opening tally as the man advantage was erased. The visitors used the momentum from the kill and took a 1-0 lead at 5:05 converting a 2-on-1 following a giveaway at center ice.
With the ice tilted in favor of the Spartans, the Gophers relied on goaltender Luca Di Pasquo to deliver critical saves through the remainder of the period to keep it a one-goal deficit at intermission.
Michigan State stayed on the attack beginning the second stanza and pushed its shot total to double that of Minnesota only to be denied at each opportunity by Di Pasquo. The forechecking pressure continued and the visitors eventually added to their lead at the 8:36 mark by taking advantage of a broken play after a blocked shot by the Gophers.
The Maroon and Gold went to its second power play less than a minute later that again went unsuccessful and the margin remained 2-0 for the Spartans. Seconds after the penalty expired, Di Pasquo stood tall to shut down a breakaway before Mason Moe danced around a defender for a shot of his own at the other end of the rink.
An unfortunate bounce off the back of the Minnesota net gave the visitors another close-range try and tucked home their third goal with 6:22 to play in the middle frame. MSU went to its first man advantage in the final three minutes and stretched its lead to 4-0 just 17 seconds into the chance and put home another goal before the period ended.
The Gophers switched netminders for the final frame as Nathan Airey took over between the pipes. MSU's pace did not diminish as it continued to send extra players into the rush and made it 6-0 less than two minutes into the third. The Maroon and Gold would not go down quietly and used a Javon Moore cross-ice feed to the stick of Tanner Ludtke to break the shutout bid at 12:11 to a raucous cheer from the home crowd. Ludtke ripped home a shot from the right circle over the sprawling goalie's glove.
Minnesota had a chance to tighten the gap even more with a power play late in the game that was thwarted. Two penalties within 35 seconds of each other over the last three minutes gave the Spartans a 5-on-3 and converted on the first attempt to close out the game, 7-1, and secure the B1G title over idle Michigan.
Noteworthy
Ludtke put away his sixth goal of the campaign and second over the past three appearances to extend his point streak to three games ... The junior has five points in the last eight contests and 14 points this season ... For the fifth-straight game, Moore added his name to the scoresheet, stretching his season-long point streak behind his 13th helper ... The freshman has six points in that span, becoming the fifth Gopher to reach 20 points overall ... Leo Gruba picked up the secondary assist on the lone tally Friday, his fifth assist this year and now has seven points ... The blue liner from Lake Elmo, Minn., recorded his first point since scoring a power-play goal against Wisconsin on Jan. 31 ... Facing his former team, Di Pasquo closed the night by making 26 saves in two periods of work ... Airey made his first appearance in net since Feb. 6 and turned away 12 shots during the third period ... Brody Lamb blocked a team-best four shots in the outing of the team's 19 total ... Luke Mittelstadt skated in the 150th game of his four-year career wearing the Maroon and Gold Friday ... The seven goals surrendered in the series opener were the most allowed in a single game in 2025-26 ... The Gophers dropped to 4-13-1 this season when allowing the opposition to score the game's first goal ... Minnesota was 0-for-3 on the power play, while MSU went 2-for-3 ... The Gophers are now 0-5-2 over the last seven meetings with the Spartans.
Coach Motzko's Comments
"I wish I had an answer to how, one week ago, we could play 120 minutes and six periods so strong, and then we turn around tonight and, you know, we have not seen that out of this group," Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. "We have to bury it quickly, and we have got to respond, because we're playing for marbles now, and our guys know it. But the beauty of sports is we get to play again tomorrow, and we get to play again on Wednesday. And we've got to show some Gopher fight in us."
Next Up: Home vs. No. 2/3 Michigan State (Mar. 6)
Minnesota takes to the ice for its final regular-season matchup, taking on the recently crowned B1G-champion Spartans Friday night at 7 p.m. The Gophers will honor their 1976 NCAA Championship team for a 50-year reunion during the first intermission before celebrating the current senior class postgame. Fans can watch the game live on FOX9+ or listen to an audio broadcast via the Gopher Radio Network 103.5 FM/AM-1130 KTLK.
Highlights: Gophers 2, Michigan 4
Friday, February 27
Highlights: Gophers 4, Michigan 2
Thursday, February 26
Highlights: Gophers 2, Notre Dame 3
Saturday, February 14
Highlights: Gophers 2, Notre Dame 2
Friday, February 13