Seeking the Minnesota program's first NCAA title in 20 years, Gophers coach Bob Motzko talked of the immense difficulty in being the last team standing on Saturday night, and what it will take to win
Two from Minnesota and one from Michigan are the trio remaining in contention for college hockey's top individual honor, which will be handed out April 7 in Tampa.
Making just their second-ever NCAA playoff appearance, the Canisius Golden Griffins face top-ranked Minnesota with an attitude and a game designed to give their well-rested opponent fits.
Both rosters are filled with future NHLers and many are former teammates as Minnesota tries to hang its second banner of the season with a win in the Big Ten tournament title game versus Michigan.
It had been two weeks since they had played a game, but after a bit of a slow start, the Minnesota Gophers found their legs and found their way back to the conference tourney title game.
After getting into penalty trouble and falling behind by a pair, the Gophers rallied to close the regular season on a four-game winning streak as they head into a break and await their playoff foe.
Ohio State came to Minneapolis with the nation's best penalty kill, but a pair of Minnesota power-play goals gave the Buckeyes drive for Big Ten home ice a setback.
The Minnesota Gophers star forward scored in the final minute of regulation to forge a tie, then finished it in overtime to fuel a sweep of Penn State on the road.
With a big contingent of friends and family in attendance, Minnesota Gophers star Logan Cooley made a triumphant return to his home state, as his team blasted past Penn State in their series opener.
A pair of second period goals by the Badgers, and a controversial disallowed Minnesota goal, helped Wisconsin snap a six-game losing streak and keep the conference title up for grabs, for now.
Trailing in the second period, the Minnesota Gophers got solid goaltending and woke up offensively to sweep their weekend series versus visiting Michigan State.
It took only nine ticks of the clock for Minnesota Gophers rookie Logan Cooley to give his team a lead, and that was just the beginning of their dominance of the Spartans on Friday.
The Minnesota Gophers rallied twice in their Saturday game with Michigan, but could not find overtime magic for the second night in a row, settling for a split of their weekend Big Ten series.
