Freshmen lead Gophers men's hockey comeback over Michigan State

The No. 8 Gophers dug an early hole, but rallied behind goals from three freshmen to beat Michigan State 4-2 on Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Blake McLaughlin, a senior from Grand Rapids, broke a 2-2 tie for Minnesota (16-11, 11-6 Big Ten) at 4 minutes, 8 seconds of the third period. The forward scored his 10th of the year and notched his 97th career point. Bryce Brodzinski and Carl Fish had assists.

For insurance, Tristan Broz, a freshman from Blake, scored top shelf at 8:45 to complete the Gophers comeback. It was his third goal.

The Gophers eighth consecutive win over the Spartans gave coach Bob Motzko his 350th career victory. The Gophers swept the Spartans 4-1 and 6-3 in East Lansing Jan. 7-8.

Motzko owns a 350-240-60 record, including a 74-48-11 mark near the end of his fourth season with the Gophers. Before that he was the St. Cloud State coach for 13 seasons.

"Once we scored our first goal, it really kind of lit us up and got us going," Motzko said. "It was good for our young guys to step up tonight and get in some offense."

A number of younger Gophers got more playing time because three of the team's best players — forwards Ben Meyers and Matthew Knies and defenseman Brock Faber — have joined the U.S. team for the Beijing Olympics.

But the Gophers tied it up with goals 1:35 apart in the middle of the second. Rhett Pitlick, a freshman from Chaska, got his first goal as a Gopher at 10:39 and Aaron Huglen, a freshman from Roseau, Minn., put in his own rebound at 12:14 for a 2-2 tie.

Huglen also had an assist for his first multipoint game in college.

Justen Close made 21 saves for the victory. Pierce Charleson stopped 36 shots for Michigan State (11-15-1, 5-12).

The No. 8 Gophers men's hockey team dug an early hole, but rallied behind goals from three freshmen to beat Michigan State 4-2 on Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Blake McLaughlin, a senior from Grand Rapids, broke a 2-all tie for Minnesota (16-11, 11-6 Big Ten) at 4 minutes, 8 seconds of the third period. And, for insurance, Tristan Broz, a freshman from Blake, scored top shelf at 8:45 to complete the Gophers comeback.

But the Gophers tied it up with goals 1:35 apart in the middle of the second. Rhett Pitlick, a freshman from Chaska, got his first goal for the Gophers at 10:39 and Aaron Huglen, a freshman from Roseau, put in his own rebound at 12:14.

A number of younger Gophers players got more playing time because three of the team's best players — forwards Ben Meyers and Matthew Knies and defenseman Brock Faber — are with the U.S. team for the Beijing Olympics.