The Minnesota Gophers did not play their A game on Saturday night. Head coach Bob Motzko postgame called it “a clunker”. But in the end it was good enough as Senior captain Sammy Walker scored with 2:39 left in the third period to give Minnesota a 3-2 lead they would not relinquish. Minnesota now advances to host the Big Ten Championship Game next Saturday night against the #2 seed Michigan Wolverines.
The Gophers and Nittany Lions both took a bit of time to get into the action Saturday night. Minnesota looked a bit slow, which was partially expected after a two week layoff between games.