Gophers sweep Penn State to reach Big Ten hockey semifinals

Justen Close was a brick wall when the Gophers needed him to be and a goal with 1:08 to play in the third period lifted Minnesota to a 3-2 win and sweep of Penn State in the best-of-three first-round series in the Big Ten Hockey Tournament on Sunday.

LAMB TO HUGLEN FOR THE LEAD pic.twitter.com/LW0908z3fl
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) March 9, 2024

The winning goal from Aaron Huglen came just over five minutes after Penn State appeared to take the lead only to have a review wipe out the goal for offsides. Huglen's shot was only the fourth on goal in the the period compared to 19 at the time for the Nittany Lions.

"The whole game long was a pretty crazy game," Huglen said on FS2. "Were just happy to come out with that win."

Close finished with 45 saves on a day Penn State out-shot the Gophers 47-24.

Jaxon Nelson scored twice in the first period as Minnesota out-shot Penn State 17-13 in the first 20 minutes of action, but from then on the Nittany Lions controlled the pace and puck possession as they out-shot the Gophers 15-3 in the second period and 20-4 in the third period.

Penn State's dominance coincided with the Gophers losing star forward Jimmy Snuggerud, who was ejected after officials reviewed his hit on Alex Servagno at 4:07 of the first period and assessed him a five-minute major and game misconduct for checking from behind.

Penn State scored twice in the second period to tie the game 2-2. The first came from Dylan Lugris and the second was off the stick blade Matt DiMarsico.

Lugris appeared to give Penn State a 3-2 lead with 5:48 to play in the third on a goal by Lugris, who buried a rebound after a quick shot from the left circle by Danny Dzhaniyev, but a lengthy review from the officiating crew determined the Nittany Lions were offsides.

Minnesota advances to the Big Ten semifinals on March 16. It'll be a single elimination game against Wisconsin or Ohio State.