MINNEAPOLIS — Jimmy Snuggerud is not going to be anyone’s third wheel on the Minnesota Gophers dynamic line of young guns. After linemates Logan Cooley and Rhett Pitlick got the biggest share of accolades and attention last weekend, Snuggerud figured it was time to introduce himself to the Gophers fan base.
Snuggerud scored his first three collegiate goals, and goalie Justen Close held Minnesota State Mankato at bay for much of the night as the Gophers won 4-1 on Friday in the opener of a two-game home-and-home series between these in-state rivals.
Close, who has started 21 of the Gophers’ past 22 games, had 18 saves in the win. Cooley was named the Big Ten’s top star of the week last week, and Pitlick drew raves for his passing, while Snuggerud didn’t score in his first two college games. That changed, with an exclamation point, on Friday.
“He was frustrated last week. He didn’t get one last week, so I told him frustration is like a bad date. You’ve got to get out of it and start a new day,” Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. “And boy he came through tonight. He can shoot a hockey puck.”
The Mavericks got 21 saves from goalie Keenan Rancier — one of three men in the mix to fill the role of Hobey Baker Award winner Dryden McKay, who led the Mavericks to the NCAA title game last spring. They got a goal from defenseman Jake Livingstone in the third period, but could not match Snuggerud’s offense. MSU briefly appeared to have scored in the second period, but the goal was disallowed after a review.
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“I thought for a guy that’s got the experience that he’s got, that he did a good job tonight,” said Mavericks coach Mike Hastings of Rancier, who was making his second career start.
Snuggerud, a third-generation Gopher whose father, Dave, was a star in the late 1980s and later played in the NHL, got his first of the game late in a tightly played first period, cashing in during a scramble in front of the Mavericks net.
“It was definitely surreal, watching games here growing up and hearing the crowd chant, to have that happen was really fun,” Snuggerud said.
Early in the second, Snuggerud doubled the home team’s lead, slapping home the rebound of a Ryan Johnson shot after Rancier had made the initial save. His third came on a rocket of a slap shot from the blue line in the third period, with the Gophers on a power play.
“I saw maybe a little bit of the top right open and just shot through,” he said.
A freshman from Chaska, Minnesota, Snuggerud was a first-round draft pick of the St. Louis Blues over the summer.
Another freshman, Connor Kurth, added an empty net goal with just over two minutes on the clock.
Brad Rempel / University of Minnesota Athetics
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Pretend it never happened
For a minute, it looked like defenseman Akito Hirose had scored the Mavericks’ first goal of the season. Near the midway point of the second period, MSU forward Lucas Sowder took away Close’s eyes while Hirose popped a rising shot over the Gophers goalie’s left shoulder.
But while the sizable contingent of southern Minnesota hockey fans cheered, the Gophers coaches asked referees Tony Czech and Brian Aaron to take a closer look. After a relatively lengthy review, they determined that Sowder’s presence in the crease, and perhaps some contact with Close before the puck went in, constituted goalie interference, and the point came off the scoreboard.
“My guess, with the way video is right now, they don’t get many wrong, so I’m assuming they made the right call,” Hastings said. “It’s hockey. You get some that go your way and some that don’t. We’ve all been around it enough years that when you’re on the road, you assume that’s not going to go your way.”
Mozko said the Gophers coaches knew from the way that Close reacted that there was interference and asked for the review immediately.
“Right away we knew, you could see Closer shake and that was a no-brainer. We called it even before we got word from up top,” said the Gophers coach.
Of note, playing games at 3M Arena at Mariucci is nothing new for the Hirose family. Akito’s older brother Taro was named player of the year in the Big Ten in 2019 after a standout junior season at Michigan State.
Weathering the storm
The Mavericks had ended the Gophers’ past two seasons in the NCAA tournament, and looked like the alpha dogs early on in the contest on Friday. With a large crowd of students on hand behind Rancier, MSU didn’t give them much to cheer about, keeping pucks away from their own net and testing Close often.
Motzko said enduring that push by the visitors and keeping them from grabbing the early momentum was a key.
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“We weathered the first 10 minutes,” Motzko said, tipping his cap to Hastings’ club. “That’s a good hockey team and well-coached. We knew what we were going to see but we weathered it and then we dug in.”
Most notably, Motzko praised his veteran defensemen for keeping things calm around Close and starting the offense on many shifts. Ryan Johnson was the second star of the night with three assists.
“There’s a first-rounder that comes back for his senior year. Great skater, he can play all minutes. Nothing phases him,” Motzko said of Johnson, who was picked by the Buffalo Sabres in the opening round of the 2019 draft and considered signing over the summer before returning for a fourth season with the Gophers.
Johnson, an alternate captain wore a purple tie after the game. Asked if it was a nod to his opponents for the weekend, Johnson smiled and gave a one-word answer: “Style.”
“They came out really fast, and came out hard,” Johnson said. “All our young guys really stepped up tonight when they hadn’t seen that before. We responded really well.”
Brad Rempel / University of Minnesota Athletics
Extra pucks
The home-and-home series with MSU concludes on Saturday evening with a 6 p.m. CT puck drop at the Mayo Clinic Health Systems Event Center in Mankato. It will be the Gophers’ first game in Mankato since Nov. 3, 2018, a 2-1 win by the Mavericks.
The game was delayed for a few minutes early in the third period after the net occupied by Close came off the moorings on consecutive shifts. An arena staffer drilled deeper holes in the ice to better secure the goal.
Healthy scratches for Friday’s game for the Gophers were defensemen Matt Staudacher and Carl Fish and forwards Colin Schmidt and John Mittelstadt.
Minnesota 4, Minnesota State 1
Minnesota 1-1-2—4
Minn State 0-0-1—1
First period — 1. MIN, Jimmy Snuggerud 1 (Logan Cooley, Ryan Johnson), 18:21. Penalties — None.
Second period — 2. MIN, Snuggerud 2 (Johnson, Jaxon Nelson), 5:30. Penalties — Cade Borchardt, MSU (tripping), 0:32; Mason Nevers, MIN (tripping), 19:12.
Third period — 3. MSU, Jake Livingstone 1 (David Silye, Akito Hirose), 4:00. 4. MIN, Snuggerud 3 (Jackson LaCombe, Nevers), 10:46, (PP). 5. MIN, Connor Kurth 2 (Johnson), 17:56, (EN). Penalties — Brock Faber, MIN (cross checking), 6:53; Josh Groll, MSU (hooking), 10:33; Sam Morton, MSU (hooking), 11:27.
Shots on goal — MIN 7-11-7—25; MSU 7-4-8—19. Goalies — Justen Close, MIN (19 shots-18 saves); Keenan Rancier, MSU (25-21). Power plays — MIN 1-of-3, MSU 0-of-2. Referees — Tony Czech, Brian Aaron. Linesmen — Nicholas Bradshaw, Jonathan Morrison. Att. — 8,472.
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