Travis Boyd's hat trick and a five-point weekend earned double honors on Tuesday by claiming the Big Ten's First Star of the Week and the NCAA's national Third Star of the Week.
The Gophers' senior forward scored the game-winning goal in Friday night's 4-2 win over Ohio State and followed up with a career-high four points, including a hat trick, in Saturday's 6-2 victory to complete the series sweep.
Boyd now leads the team with 13 goals and is the third-leading scorer with 25 points despite missing a month of the season with a lower-body injury. The Washington Capitals draft pick has contributed a point in 12 of the 14 games since returning from the injury. He leads the NCAA in shooting percentage (.325) and leads the Big Ten in game-winning goals, power-play goals, and with 10 goals in conference play.
Michigan State's Zach Nagelvoort was the Big Ten's Second Star of the Week and Penn State's PJ Musico was the Third Star. Boyd has earned three conference honors this season, and his national honor is the first for the Gophers since Adam Wilcox was the HCA Rookie of the Month in 2012.
The Gophers' weekend sweep improved their standing in the PairWise rankings to tied for 13th, which is within the 16-team projected window of qualifying for the NCAA tournament. However, they're still unranked in the USCHO poll.
Penn State jumped into the USCHO top 20 at No. 19, the highest ranking for the young program only its third varsity season. Michigan moved up to No. 12.
The Gophers host Michigan this weekend at Mariucci Arena and travel to Penn State in two weeks. Michigan leads Penn State in the Big Ten hockey standings by two points, while the Gophers are in third place.
