Scoggins: In game befitting heated rivalry, Gophers rally behind powerful Knies
Bob Motzko's message to his team before overtime Friday night was brief and direct.
"Don't screw up," the Gophers coach said, relaying what he shared with his players.
Anything else?
"Don't force offense," Motzko said. "Except for Knies."
His players took those words to heart. The Gophers didn't screw up and Matthew Knies forced the issue on offense and got rewarded.
Playing their first game as the nation's top-ranked team in the polls, the Gophers showed a flair for the dramatic in a 3-2 overtime win over rival North Dakota.
Goals with 84 seconds left in regulation and 21 seconds into overtime caused 3M Arena at Mariucci to shake in celebration.
Knies flexed his muscles on the winner. Battling a North Dakota defender near the goal, Knies somehow squeezed off a shot while falling to the ice, and the puck slid past goalie Drew DeRidder.
"I wanted to score so bad," Knies said.
His effort reflected that. He was not going to be denied after being denied throughout the game by North Dakota's smothering pressure.
"The big fella decided to take it into his own hands," Motzko said. "He is one big, strong dude. When he bears down, that's what he can do."
The 301st meeting of a college hockey rivalry that dates to 1930 delivered another testy, intense white-knuckler.
The action was fast paced, tightly contested and filled with big hits and big moments. It was everything you hope to see in a great rivalry.
The announced attendance of 10,418 was the seventh-largest in Mariucci history. Those present were treated to college hockey at its finest.
"That was a big-time atmosphere," Motzko said. "The place came unglued when we scored every goal."
The Gophers created one of those moments in desperation time.
Trailing 2-1, junior Mason Nevers jumped on the ice as an extra attacker when goalie Justen Close skated to the bench. Nevers skated to the middle, tapped his stick to call for a pass and then delivered a haymaker.
His shot through traffic found the back of the net to the tie the score at 2-2 with 1:24 left.
"Nevers was our best player tonight," Motzko said. "There was an upperclassman stepping up."
The teams waited a whole 18 seconds after puck drop before engaging in a scrum in front of the net. It was a precursor to the remaining 60-plus minutes of action.
Nothing came easy for either team. The Fighting Hawks executed their game plan by swarming the Gophers' skill players and making it difficult to get bodies to the net.
North Dakota paid close attention to uber-skilled freshman Logan Cooley every time he touched the puck to limit his creativity and playmaking in space. Cooley finished with an assist and three shots. His shot on a power play in the third period ringed around the crossbar but did not go in.
North Dakota took the first lead when Jake Schmaltz settled in front of Close and tipped in Ty Farmer's shot from the side 4½ minutes into the game.
"We got knocked around the first 10 minutes," Motzko said. "We weathered the storm."
His team finally cracked the code late in the second period. Defenseman Jackson LaCombe skated the puck all the way across the blue line into the circle, then flipped a backhander to the wide side for his first goal of the season with 1:23 left in the second.
The building erupted, but the momentum was short-lived.
Jaxon Nelson was called for hooking 11 seconds later, and the Fighting Hawks reclaimed the lead with 36.1 seconds left in the period on Riese Gaber's power-play goal.
Motzko told his players during the intermission to stick to the plan. He liked the way his team was battling.
"We got rewarded," he said.
The reward came quickly in overtime to finish a fabulous display of hockey between two programs that love to go nose-to-nose.
