In the Land of the 10,000 Lakes on Friday evening, it was the first of four meetings pitting the Notre Dame Fighting Irish against the no. 1 Minnesota Golden Gophers. Ten of the prior eleven meetings between the schools had been decided by one goal. Last year, Notre Dame’s season ended at the hands of Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament.
First Period
An elbowing call on Pierce Crawford put Notre Dame on their much-maligned penalty kill for the first time, but the Irish did a great job of limiting scoring chances and keeping the puck in the Minnesota zone, as they had done for most of the period.