MINNEAPOLIS – It was a career night for Golden Gophers up and down the No. 12/11-ranked lineup in a 6-2 men’s hockey win over No. 17/18 Colorado College Monday night inside 3M Arena at Mariucci. Jimmy Snuggerud recorded a four-point night thanks to his second career hat trick, while Rhett Pitlick and Sam Rinzel finished with three points each.
Minnesota (10-6-4 overall) earned a non-conference split with the Tigers (10-7-1 overall) in the first official action of the 2024 calendar year. Justen Close secured a major milestone during a 28-save performance, registering the 50th victory of his career for the Maroon and Gold in only 75 starts.
Jimmy Snuggerud photo courtesy of U of Minnesota Athletics
It was a fast start for the Tigers as they capitalized on a heavy bounce off the end boards to take an early lead at 1:20. The margin was erased two minutes later when Luke Mittelstadt stopped a visiting rush and found Jimmy Clark in the neutral zone. Clark flipped a pass over to Charlie Strobel and the sophomore wired a shot to the top corner, pulling even 1-1. In the middle of the opening frame, the Gophers went to a man advantage and peppered the opposing netminder to no avail. Colorado College went to its own power play late during the stanza and thought they had a goal, but the call was reversed for offsides thanks to a successful bench challenge and the teams went to the locker room deadlocked.
The beginning of the second period belonged to the Maroon and Gold as Rinzel forced a turnover at the blue line and pushed the puck ahead to Pitlick. The junior raced into the offensive zone and put a pass to the tape of Snuggerud, where the Chaska, Minn., native made no mistake, burying the go-ahead tally just 19 seconds after the puck was dropped. Penalties to both teams allowed extra space on the ice and moments after the Gophers’ penalty expired, Snuggerud again showcased his ability to score from anywhere. He caught the Tigers goalie out of position and stretched Minnesota’s edge to 3-1 with a goal on the man advantage at the 8:07 mark. The two-goal margin held to the end of the frame, aided by Minnesota’s 19-7 edge in shots on goal in the 20-minute window.
The visitors made a strong push to open the final stanza, forcing Close to come up with five saves. Following a clean faceoff win by Colorado College, it turned into a one-score game as a shot found its way through traffic 5:28 into the period. The Tigers rang a shot off the post on the next shift, searching for the equalizer, but it was a tenacious forecheck from Connor Kurth that drew a penalty for the Gophers. Minnesota took advantage and scored its second power-play goal as Pitlick put away a rebound in the crease with 11:26 remaining in regulation. The junior tacked on another goal 91 seconds later as he held the puck at the top of the circle before sending a wrister past the goalie and the lead swelled to 5-2.
The offense stayed in rhythm and hats came flying to the ice two minutes after Pitlick’s second tally as Snuggerud scored on a rush started by Rinzel and Oliver Moore for his third goal of the night. The Gophers finished off the home victory, 6-2, in the debut of their new alternate gold jerseys. Noteworthy Close became the 13th netminder in Gophers’ history to reach 50 career victories and is the first to reach the milestone since Eric Schierhorn won his 50th game on Nov. 4, 2017 … Snuggerud posted the second hat trick of his career and closed the weekend with five goals, while adding an assist to make it a career-high four-point effort … The sophomore registered his fifth multi-goal effort this year, third in the previous four games, and jumped to second in the NCAA in total goals behind a team-best 16, including five on the power play … Pitlick became the first Gopher to reach 20 points in 2023-24, recording his 11th assist and 11th goal, and now has 17 points in his past 10 contests with his second three-point effort this season … Rinzel set a career high with three assists Monday and now leads the team with 13, ranking third nationally among freshman defenseman … Strobel scored his second goal of the season and first since Oct. 26 against Wisconsin … Clark recorded an assist for the second-consecutive night and has points in three of his last five outings … Mittelstadt picked up his eighth helper this year and sixth across the previous eight games … Aaron Huglen tallied an assist and has three points over his last four games, while Brody Lamb also had an assist for his fourth point in the previous four contests … Moore ended the game with two assists and is pacing Minnesota’s freshman class with 14 points … Rinzel and Cal Thomas each posted a career-high plus-4 outing … Minnesota captain Jaxon Nelson skated in the 150th game of his collegiate career Monday and is the second active player to reach that mark this season, joining fellow fifth-year senior Bryce Brodzinski.
Next Up: Home vs. Robert Morris (Jan. 12-13) Minnesota is right back on the ice for its final non-conference series of the season as it hosts Robert Morris, making its return to NCAA Division I men’s hockey following a two-year hiatus. Fans can watch both games live on FOX 9+ and streaming on B1G+, while radio coverage also will be available on the Gopher Radio Network 96.7 FM KFAN+ (Friday) and 103.5 FM/AM-1130 KTLK (Saturday).
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