Gophers men, women win with shutouts Friday night
It was Rhett Pitlick’s night as the star winger scored two goals before four minutes had ticked off the clock in the first period and Minnesota cruised to a 3-0 win over Penn State at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis.
Pitlick deflected a puck by the Penn State goalie just 43 seconds into the game and then scored again 3 minutes, 6 seconds later for a commanding Minnesota lead.
With the cushion, Gophers goalie Justen Close helped blank the Nittany Lions, including when the visitors had a 5-on-3 power play in the second period. Close finished the game with 36 saves.
Connor Kurth’s sixth goal of the season gave the Gophers a 3-0 lead less than two minutes into the third period.
Minnesota, ranked No. 9 in the nation, improved to 17-7-5 and 10-5-4 in conference play, trailing second place Michigan State and Big Ten leader Wisconsin.
Rhett Pitlick scored against Penn State on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024.
University of Minnesota
In women’s hockey, the Gophers got Abbey Murphy’s 28th goal of the season and that’s it for a 1-0 victory in the Interstate 94 rivalry with St. Cloud State.
Skylar Vetter made 24 saves in the shutout.
The U of M women are now 23-5-1 on the season and trailing only Wisconsin and Ohio State in the WCHA race.
