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Gophers men's hockey bounces back with dominant win over No. 11 Ohio State

Minnesota was on a mission Saturday night, scoring the first six goals of the game.
Nolan O'Hara|
Former St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko faces off with the Huskies for the first time as head coach of Minnesota Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, at 3M Arena at Mariucci. Huskies Vs Gophers 5
Former St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko faces off with the Huskies for the first time as head coach of Minnesota Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, at 3M Arena at Mariucci. Huskies Vs Gophers 5 | Zach Dwyer, zdwyer@stcloudtimes.com, St. Cloud Times via Imagn Content Services, LLC

The third-ranked Gophers men's hockey team bounced back from an ugly opening loss and used a three-goal first period to spark a dominant 6-1 victory over No. 11 Ohio State Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio.

Mike Koster got things started for the Gophers (18-4-2) with a power-play goal 2 minutes, 42 seconds into the contest. Minnesota got goals from Mason Nevers and Connor Kurth 15 seconds apart later in the period for a 3-0 advantage.

Koster scored his second power-play goal of the night 3 minutes, 36 seconds into the second period, and Jimmy Snuggerud added another with the man advantage just over 10 minutes later. Ryan Chesley scored 8 minutes, 24 seconds into the third period as the Gophers took a commanding and insurmountable 6-0 lead.

"It just was not a good look to us (Friday) night. Tonight, absolutely the other way around from the first shift," Gophers coach Bob Motzko said in a release. "All four lines, all the defensemen, Liam (Souliere) was great in net and give our guys credit, we responded. I hope it's a lesson for us and I hope that's a game to get us going now."

The Buckeyes (15-6-1) finally got on the scoreboard when Gunnarwolfe Fontaine scored a power-play goal in the waning minutes. That ended the shutout hopes for Souliere, who made 32 saves on 33 shots overall.

The Gophers return to action Friday night when they host Notre Dame for a 7 p.m. puck drop.

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Nolan O'Hara
NOLAN O'HARA

Nolan O'Hara covers all things Minnesota sports, primarily the Timberwolves, for Bring Me The News and Sports Illustrated's On SI network. He previously worked as a copy editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and is a graduate of the University of Minnesota's Hubbard School of Journalism. His work has appeared in the Pioneer Press, Ratchet & Wrench magazine, the Minnesota Daily and a number of local newspapers in Minnesota, among other publications.

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