Olympic departures keep bringing out the best in other Gophers men's hockey players

With a blank stare that would make a poker player envious, Bob Motzko pondered the question: "How has your team kept winning with three of its best players at the Olympics?''

"I don't want to talk about it,'' the Gophers coach deadpanned after a pause. He quickly rapped the wooden lectern with his knuckles to not tempt the always-fickle hockey gods.

"We're having a little fun with it, but our guys are just playing good hockey,'' Motzko said. "People are picking up the slack, our freshmen are scoring, our defense[men] are jumping into the offense, we're getting goaltending. The two-week snapshot has been very good.''

Since forwards Ben Meyers and Matthew Knies and defenseman Brock Faber left to play for Team USA in Beijing, the Gophers are 4-0 with sweeps of Michigan State and Ohio State to move into regular-season title contention in the Big Ten. With four games to play, beginning Friday and Saturday at Penn State, the Gophers trail first-place Michigan by two points, 45 to 43.

Meyers, Knies and Faber combined for 22 goals and 40 assists before they embarked for China. They're expected to return for next weekend's final regular-season series against Wisconsin at 3M Arena at Mariucci. Team USA's 3-2 shootout loss to Slovakia in the quarterfinals late Tuesday night left open the possibility that they could try to get to State College in time for this weekend's series, but that's unlikely.

Without the Olympians, the Gophers' next-man-up mantra has worked well, especially with freshmen looking like seasoned veterans. The all-frosh line of Rhett Pitlick, Aaron Huglen and Chaz Lucius has combined for six goals and nine assists in the four-game win streak. Add in freshman Tristan Broz's two goals in that span, and Minnesota's first-year Gophers have produced eight of the team's 15 goals in the win streak.

"We're not surprised; we saw it coming,'' Motzko said, pointing to the play of the freshmen since the calendar flipped to 2022. "We felt it ever since the St. Thomas [exhibition] game, they've been in the offense. … What they're doing, they've done their whole career.''

Pitlick, the Big Ten's second star of the week after collecting two goals and two assists at Ohio State, doesn't feel like a freshman anymore.

"When I came back [after the December break], I felt way stronger, and things are going my way,'' said Pitlick, who like Huglen and Broz spent at least two years in the USHL.

The veterans, too, have upped their game. The line of seniors Blake McLaughlin and Sammy Walker and junior Bryce Brodzinski has combined for five goals and six assists in the past four games.

"We're just trying to play fast,'' Brodzinski said. "When you play with Walker, you've got to play fast. … We're using each other a lot more now.''

The resurgence isn't limited to the Gophers forwards. Defenseman Jackson LaCombe has a pair of two-assist games in his past four contests and is flashing the form that made him a second-team All-America selection last season, Motzko said. Carl Fish, playing more because of Faber's absence, was the Big Ten's third star during the Michigan State series two weeks ago.

Making it all stand up has been junior goalie Justen Close, who was thrust into the starting job after Jack LaFontaine bolted for the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 9. Close has put up solid stats, going 7-3 with a 1.91 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. LaFontaine, by comparison, was 12-8 with a 2.69 GAA and .900 save percentage this season.

After LaFontaine left the program, the team adopted and embraced the motto, "We have all that we need.''

"It's shown that we really do have all that we need,'' Pitlick said of the winning streak. "… As long as we stick to our system, we'll be fine.''