Grace Zumwinkle had her fifth career hat trick and Taylor Heise had four assists as the No. 6 Gophers women's hockey team defeated No. 14 St. Cloud State 6-0 on Friday at Ridder Arena.
After the teams played a scoreless first period, Zumwinkle's first two goals bookended a five-goal second period for the Gophers (13-3-2, 12-1-2), who stayed on the heels of Ohio State in the WCHA. Four-on-four goals 20 seconds apart by Abigail Boreen and Emily Oden made it 4-0.
Boreen has five goals in the past three games, Heise has nine points in the past two games, and Oden picked up her 100th career point.
Zumwinkle's third-period goal gave her 12 for the season and 96 for her career (seventh in program history). Her goals came at even strength, short-handed and on the power play.
The Gophers improved to 8-0-0 at home.
Skylar Vetter recorded her second straight shutout (both by 6-0 scores), stopping 14 shots.
The Gophers avenged a 4-1 nonconference loss to the Huskies on Nov. 7 in Andover in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Faceoff Classic. It was the Huskies' first win over the Gophers since 2010.
This one was a blowout after both teams scored seven goals in the first three meetings.
Minnesota, which had 40 shots on goal, now leads the all-time series 103-4-3.
St. Cloud State dropped to 11-9-0, 6-9-0.
Huskies goaltender Sanni Ahola was replaced by JoJo Chobak in the second period after Ahola was injured.
