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ST. PAUL, Minn. — It wasn’t pretty, but No. 19 Minnesota State used a strong power-play performance and some luck on its first goal to gain a crucial nonconference victory in the North Star College Cup’s consolation game as the Mavericks downed No. 20 Minnesota 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at the Xcel Energy Center.
Teddy Blueger scored the Mavericks’ second power-play goal of the game at the 7:29 mark of the third period to give Minnesota State a lead it never relinquished.
“I thought Teddy Blueger really forced himself on the game, especially in the third period, and not just the goal that he scored,” said Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings. “Out of our end, he played with some poise and didn’t throw the puck around and create opportunities for them by just getting rid of it.”
The Gophers had two power plays during the last 10 minutes of the game, but Minnesota State’s penalty kill stood tall after giving up two power-play goals earlier in the game and three on Saturday against St. Cloud State.
“I thought our [penalty] killers did a really good job, along with [goaltender Cole] Huggins, when the game was on the line,” Hastings said. “We needed to get some kills, and we hadn’t done that throughout the tournament. I was happy with the way the guys stood up and got the job done.”
Minnesota State took its first lead four minutes into the game when Blueger flung a backhanded attempt off of Jack Glover’s stick and behind Eric Schierhorn. Blueger’s seventh goal of the season was assisted by Sean Flanagan and Dylan Margonari.
“We put one in our own net tonight, the first goal, that’s the difference in the game,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. “Last night, the winner goes off their guy in front with a few minutes to go, and that’s hockey and you have to understand that from week-to-week. Whether you win or you lose, you go back the next week.”
Minnesota evened the score 10 minutes later on the power play when Justin Kloos slapped a rolling puck past Huggins for his 11th goal of the season.
“We had some guys that had some pretty good weekends, but not as many as we needed,” Lucia said. “We have 10 Big Ten games left and that has to be the focus.”
After the two teams played to a stalemate for most of the second period, Minnesota State got a golden opportunity in the form of a lengthy five-on-three power play and took full advantage.
C.J. Franklin took a pass from Blueger and patiently changed the angle and used the traffic in front of Schierhorn before ripping home his 11th goal of the season.
“C.J. Franklin, over the last two weekends, has been our best player,” Hastings said. “It’s good to see him get rewarded for a lot of the work that he’s been putting in.”
The Mavericks outshot Minnesota 14-5 in the second period and held a 26-23 advantage at the end of the game.
The Gophers got a five-on-three opportunity of their own five minutes into the third period and cashed in to tie the game. Connor Reilly lit the lamp with a shot from the high slot to tie the game. Kloos and Michael Brodzinski assisted on the goal.
After taking over for Jason Pawloski during Saturday’s loss to St. Cloud State, Huggins got the start on Sunday and made 21 saves.
“[Huggins] plays two games for us last week and the genius coach plays the other guy,” Hastings said, referring to going with Pawloski on Saturday after Huggins and the Mavericks swept Lake Superior State the weekend before. “But I thought, Pawloski who has done a really good job of leading us over the last two months, earned an opportunity and Huggins came in and played well, especially in the third period.”
