Brody Lamb’s natural hat trick helped the No. 5 Minnesota men’s hockey team complete a series sweep of St. Thomas in a 6-2 win Saturday night at the Xcel Energy Center.

The Gophers (5-1-0 overall) took advantage of the undisciplined play of the Tommies (1-3-1 overall) and scored three times on the power play, all on Lamb’s stick. It was the Maroon and Gold’s fourth consecutive victory, scoring five or more goals in all four competitions.

It was the “home” team that struck first for the second night in a row, this time via a misplay in front of the Minnesota goal and scoring on a shot from the slot at 4:19. The Gophers fought back and nearly got the equalizer as John Whipple’s shot from the point was headed just wide by Mason Nevers. With an offensive zone win, the Maroon and Gold tied it up as Ryan Chesley followed up his effort from Friday, scoring to tie the game, 1-1. His flashy eye shot from the point found its way through traffic with 9:18 left in the stanza.

Right after the tying goal, the Gophers drew a penalty and Erik Påhlsson fired a backhand into the post. The next power play unit took to the ice, and it was Lamb who found the back of the net, burying a rebound off a Sam Rinzel shot. Minnesota took a 2-1 lead just 1:34 after tying the score and held a one-goal margin until intermission.

Following an early UST odd-man rush in the second frame, a clearance went to Matthew Wood and the junior fired a shot off the left post. Wood was then cross-checked in the face and the Gophers moved to a five-minute power play and moved to a 5-on-3 when the Tommies were assessed as bench minors for unsportsmanlike conduct. Minnesota capitalized with Lamb scoring his second power play goal of the night on a perfect pass from Luke Mittelstadt. The junior scored the first hat trick of his career less than two minutes later on the goal line.

Tempers began to rise after the whistles, with the Gophers holding a 4-1 lead, but it was a brilliant individual effort from Aaron Huglen for the fifth goal. The senior faked his defender and spun the goalie for a goal with 31.8 seconds on the clock. At the end of the second period, UST was awarded another five-minute penalty for a cross check to the face.

Minnesota didn’t score on the extended power play, while the Tommies managed a short-handed breakaway four minutes into the final period. The Maroon and Gold were unimpressed with the tally and Connor Kurth made it 6-2, finishing a smooth passing play with teammates Wood and Jimmy Clark at 6:57. The visitors marched to the final horn and earned their second straight sweep against an in-state opponent.

In front of an announced attendance of 10,104, Gophers goaltender Liam Souliere recorded 16 saves in the victory.

Outstanding
For the second time in as many trips to the Xcel Energy Center during his career, Lamb scored multiple goals, this time recording his first collegiate hat trick… It was the first natural hat trick for the Gophers since February 25 2022, when Ben Meyers accomplished the feat against Wisconsin… One night after setting a new career high in goals, Chesley added his fourth of the year and had an assist for his third multi-point outing in 2024-25… Huglen scored his second goal this season and has a point in three of the last four appearances… Kurth evened a consecutive goal streak as the junior lit the lamp in three straight games and increased his best team total to six, one short of his career high for a single season. … It was the first assist of the season for Mittelstadt, who reached the 20-point mark in each of his two college hockey campaigns… Behind a two-assist performance, Wood had multiple points in five of six games as a Gopher…Rinzel extended his point streak to six games with another multi-point effort, the ninth of his career…Påhlsson recorded his first collegiate assist and has two points in his freshman season.

Comments from Coach Motzko
“Tonight it was special teams, and our power play had to answer the bell,” Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. “You have to do that in a season, and we had to get our power play going, and we got three tonight. I liked a certain maturity in our team. We kept our composure and tried to stay out of it and just play hockey.

Next up: Home vs. Penn State (November 1-2)

Courtesy: University of Minnesota Sports Information