Gophers Blank Michigan, Move Into Tie for 1st Place

MINNEAPOLIS (GopherSports.com) – Adam Wilcox picked up his fourth shutout of the year at Mariucci Arena  Saturday night as the Gophers completed a weekend sweep of Michigan with a 2-0 win to tie the Wolverines for first in the Big Ten standings.

Minnesota (16-9-3 overall, 6-2-3-0 Big Ten) kept the nation’s top offense off the scoreboard in the series finale behind the All-American goalie’s 26 saves including a barrage of Wolverine shots late in the third period. The junior now has 11 career shutouts at the University of Minnesota – second most in program history and two behind Kellen Briggs’ school record.

While defense was the name of the game for the Gophers this weekend, the offense combined for eight goals in the series including a pair of tallies at opposite ends of the game clock on Saturday.

Seth Ambroz didn’t wait long to grab the lead for Minnesota, scoring his ninth goal of the year just 4:01 into the game off a nice setup from Leon Bristedt while the Gophers would have to wait until the final minute for Kyle Rau’s insurance goal. The senior captain scored his 13th of the year to tie for the team lead with Travis Boyd, pocketing an empty-net goal at 19:39 of the third period after being set up by Hudson Fasching.

Minnesota outshot the Wolverines (16-10-0, 8-4-0-0) 33-26 while both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play. The Maroon & Gold also controlled the faceoff circle, winning 36-of-57 draws including Boyd’s 14-of-19 performance.

With the two-game sweep this weekend and the team’s current six-game unbeaten streak, the Gophers and Wolverines are now tied for first in the Big Ten with 24 points each while Penn State and Michigan State are both two points back in a tie for third.

Gopher Hockey returns to action next weekend with a two-game Big Ten series at Penn State.