Holl of a finish: Buzzer-beater sends Minnesota to national title game against Union

Courtesy of Paige Ozaroski

Philadelphia, PA -- Justin Holl scored his first goal of the season on Thursday night, and it was one Hell of a time to do it.

On the penalty kill and facing an overtime to decide who would face Union in Saturday's national championship game, Holl beat Zane Gothberg with six-tenths of a second remaining in regulation, and the Minnesota Golden Gophers claimed a 2-1 victory over the North Dakota Fighting Sioux in Thursday's late semifinal. 

Sam Warning opened the scoring with 9:09 left in the contest, but Conor Gaarder squared things only 32 seconds later.

A hooking call to the Gophers' Connor Reilly with 1:39 on the clock had Minnesota on the defensive, but the former No. 1 team in the country ended up advancing on Holl's first goal since March 8, 2013 against Bemidji State.


“There’s no better time for Justin to score his first than tonight,” said Minnesota head coach Don Lucia. “But that’s our team. We haven’t relied on any one guy. A new guy has to step forward every night.”

It came thanks to a screen from Seth Ambroz, who backed in UND forward Stephane Pattyn and captain Dillon Simpson enough to let a low shot go that ticked off the right post and in to send the Big Ten regular-season winners to their first NCAA final since 2003.  Kyle Rau began the rush from a faceoff win in his own end, with Holl kicking the puck out of his skates just prior to the winning strike.

“I think momentum was kind of, I guess you could say, in our hands,” Pattyn mused. “A couple of close calls, a couple of good saves by their goalie, and the puck going the other way, just hit a couple of skates, hit a couple of sticks, and it was in the back of our net. There’s not much more I could say.”

Minnesota (28-6-6) faces off against Union, a 5-4 winner over Boston College, in Saturday's finale for the college hockey season. North Dakota (25-14-3) came up short in its first Frozen Four bid since 2008.

Gothberg stopped 26 shots in the painful defeat, but drew praise from his boss.

"I think Zane was very good for our hockey team. Along the way, you need a goaltender to win the game. I think if you look back 10 days, I thought against Ferris State in the third period, he was a difference maker for us. He did his job, got us to overtime," said UND head coach Dave Hakstol, who completed his 10th season. I have a lot of confidence in Zane, and it doesn't just come from performance. Guys watch him prepare and that's good leadership on his part."

If not for the final marker, it would have been the second straight season a team advanced to the championship with an OT strike. Yale's Andrew Miller lit the lamp at 6:59 of the extra session to beat UMass-Lowell last year in Pittsburgh, and the Bulldogs eventually beat Quinnipiac.

The stakes between these Upper Midwest neighbors haven't been higher since Herb Brooks' Minnesota club won the last of its three titles in the 70s, taking out Gino Gasparini's North Dakota by a 4-3 count in 1979 at the Olympia in Detroit.

It showed in the play over the first two scoreless periods, defined by fits of close checking and bursts of brilliant offense and goaltending.

Adam Wilcox, who stopped 36 shots and put himself light years above the competition for the Mike Richter Award as the nation's top goalie, made a career-defining save on Colten St. Clair late in the first period, channeling Dominik Hasek to do a forward snow angels and grab his shot in close with the splits. 

Both he and Gothberg held the fort in the second frame, and it looked like the first-ever scoreless deadlock to head to overtime in semifinals history was on tap until both clubs awoke from their slumber in the space of one shift.

Warning was behind a goalmouth scramble and managed to take a Rau pass and lift a shot past Gothberg and inside the left post. Rau, the club's leading scorer, ended up with two assists on the evening.

On the ensuing shift, Wilcox failed to cover enough of the left post as Gaarder squeezed off a weak shot, and then made a successful sweep of the rebound with 8:37 remaining. For the native of the Twin Cities, it showed fortitude he first displayed when poking home the double-overtime winner against Ferris State to take the Midwest Regional.

"They put a lot of pressure on us and it was really tough at times. It seemed like every time they had a shot blocked, they'd get it back and throw a couple more towards the net," Wilcox noted. "But our defense did a great job blocking shots, boxing out, one guy took a shot in the ear. We really sold out, cut off angles, tying guys up at the point. We did a great job of weathering the storm at times tonight."

Notes: Minnesota has won its last two NCAA playoff appearances against North Dakota, including a 5-2 decision in the West Regional final two years ago after losing the two previous matchups in the 2005 and 2007 West Regionals ... Though there are no official records kept, it is believed that Holl's goal is the latest game-winner in Frozen Four history ... Minnesota and Union have played only three times previously, and all during the in-season Mariucci Classic, with the Dutchmen taking a 3-2 OT decision on Dec. 31, 2010.

Penn State hangs with Minnesota, but has long, long way to go

Thanks to the Centre Daily Times

This is what it's like if you're the #1 program in all of Division I hockey.

You don't necessarily need to go into any game, even a conference clash on the road, and have to prove you're the top team by aiming for blowouts each time.

Minnesota (15-2-3) took both games of its back-to-back Big Ten road contests at Pegula Arena on Sunday and Monday, but didn't have to break a sweat and didn't have to put up much effort as the pluckier Penn Staters buzzed around, trying to make a name for themselves by stealing a win or at least a tie.

Ahead by just one and then only two, the Gophers were clearly outplayed through the middle portion of Monday's eventual 5-2 victory, but refused to panic as the Nittany Lions wasted quality chance after quality chance and failed to dent Adam Wilcox.

“I thought we generated a lot more chances,” PSU head coach Guy Gadowsky said. “I felt really good about the chances we had. What doesn’t show up here is we hit a crossbar, we hit a post, I thought we sort of missed an open net on a 2-on-1 rebound and I thought we generated some legitimate good chances so I felt good about that.”

By the time Kenny Brooks stuck one by the sophomore netminder, it was 3-0 for the visitors and only 9:59 of game time remained. Any good feelings from that first strike and any potential thoughts of a momentum shift were wiped out only 17 seconds later when Nate Condon put one by Eamon McAdam and the Gophers restored their three-goal edge.

McAdam played so well in the series opener, making a career-high 42 saves to keep his school in the contest, but Penn State had to use up all of its energy to erase a 2-0 deficit and ended up dropping a 3-2 decision after Ben Marshall's tally with 4:01 left in regulation.

"Tip the hat to their goaltender,” Minnesota head coach Don Lucia said. "He played very well for Penn State. We had a lot of good looks and good rebound opportunities, but he was there to make the save almost every time."

He deserved a better fate. Even junior captain Tommy Olczyk remarked in the first intermission on Big Ten Network on Monday that his club "deserved to be in this game" down only 1-0. But as USCHO's Hockey East writer Dave Hendrickson once told me in an electronic correspondence, "deserve's got nothing to do with it."

“I thought he played a great game yesterday and started to get confidence,” Gadowsky added. “We wanted to get him back right away for a couple reasons: One, to continue that process of confidence, but also it’s deserved.”

Confidence, yes. Wins, no. Moral victories are no comfort as McAdam fell to 0-5-0. 

It's something both McAdam and Matt Skoff might be hearing quite a bit as the program tries to carve out a reputation in their conference and on the national scene. The grit, determination, enthusiasm and coaching are all there. The recruiting is not. That has to change, especially when facing five other national powerhouse programs who have a 60-year head start on the process. 

You could see it in the way they moved. The Nittany Lions desperately wanted to make a good impression, if not an outright statement, in their first home games since December 1. Nonetheless, against the school which has set up residence at the top of the rankings this season excepting one week, it was wishful thinking.

For Minnesota, both games were studies in economy of motion. Score in timely fashion, take multiple goal leads and then let the opposition tire itself out making a comeback. Such is the luxury of elite ranking.

Penn State outshot the Gophers 38-25 and won 40 of the game's 76 faceoffs in the back end of the double-home contests. On Sunday, the hosts won 32 of 65 in the dot. None of that matters when the amount in the cash register is lesser than your opponent.

"You certainly don't expect that," Gadowsky admitted of certain stats being on his team's side. "We are happy with that performance. As you know, the No. 1 team in the country doesn't need a ton of opportunities to finish and they did that, so give them credit."

How long will it be before the mutual admiration society will dissipate, and Gadowsky will become disappointed in the results? Will he even be the guy to give those rancorous pressers after disappointing defeats where close just isn't good enough anymore?

Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and Wisconsin aren't the juggernauts they were at the start of this Millennium. The Gophers, Spartans Badgers are a collective shadow of the teams which took home national titles in 2002-03 (MIN), 2006 (WISC) and 2007 (MSU). They're ripe for the plucking, and it would go a long way if the Blue and White could muster up a win or two before the end of the year.

Thing is, all of the above programs know they're in a bit of a well, and will be looking to feast on the weakest team in the six-member Big Ten to prop themselves up.

Still, despite any hope that can be drawn from playing two close games against the toughest foes on the schedule, there are inescapable facts: Penn State has lost nine of its last 10 games. They are just 4-12-1 on the year. The gauntlet only gets tougher from here, with back-to-back road games in East Lansing, a one-shot home deal against a Boston College team who blitzed them in Pittsburgh two weeks back, then two more on the road at Ohio State before four in a row back at the 'Peg against the Wolverines and Spartans.

Talismans won't work either. On Monday, it was former NHLer and Penn State parent Ed Olczyk and new head football coach James Franklin, who has made a great show since his hiring of how he intends to immerse himself in the university milieu.

“It was a good atmosphere,” There was good energy in the building, especially after they scored. It’s a really nice facility – they have a great base and a really good future. It’s unusual for us to go on the road and not have anybody hate us,” Lucia magnanimously added. “That’ll take some time.”

Leave that for the North Dakotas, Wisconsins, and Michigans of the world to cast their best insults against the Gophers...for now. Whipping up a healthy disrespect for a rival is also something that will need more close calls, stunning victories and crushing defeats to foster and foment in Happy Valley -- which is also a clear sign that a program has truly arrived.

Five Hobey Hopefuls

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor 

While the Hobey Baker Memorial Award committee takes 10 initial finalists and then whittles that list down to three with the intention of naming the top collegiate player on the eve of the NCAA championship, The Phanatic will do things a bit differently.

With apologies to the WCHA, we've got your Final Five picks for the prestigious trophy, awarded every year since 1981 to honor a Princeton University grad and World War I casualty who is the namesake of the Tigers' home rink.

Eric Hartzell, goaltender, Quinnipiac University

The senior netminder has been the backbone of a program which has risen from the ashes of the MAAC, through the gauntlet of the ECAC and into the #1 spot in the country. Hartzell carries a 26-5-5 record, 1.50 goals-against average, .935 save percentage and four shutouts. The Bobcats are tops in total defense, yielding a stingy 1.59 per outing.

Named both the best player and goaltender in the ECAC this season, it's no surprise that the native of suburban Minneapolis also made it on the list of 10 Hobey finalists. The Bobcats take on Brown later Friday at Boardwalk Hall in the conference semifinals. No matter what happens, we'll be seeing Hartzell on the national stage through either an automatic bid for winning it all or through an at-large selection.

Ryan Walters, forward, University of Nebraska-Omaha

A junior winger, Walters has put together one of the quietest campaigns for a top player in all of Division I. Entering the weekend, he leads all players with 52 points (22G, 30A) in 39 games. He's not in the top three in any of the major offensive categories, but so what? By leading his school in goals, assists and points, he kept a veteran Mavericks squad in the thick of the conference title race until their loss last weekend to Minnesota State.

Johnny Gaudreau, forward, Boston College

The smallish sophomore has racked up 20 goals and 49 points in only 33 games for the defending champion Eagles, good enough for fifth in the nation. He enters the Hockey East championship weekend with the most points-per-game in America at 1.48, thanks to his stint with Team USA's Gold Medal winning junior squad which took him away from The Heights over the holidays.

Gaudreau kicked off the thick of the postseason by being named Player of the Year for all of Hockey East, along with an obvious First Team All-Star selection. BC's path to defending its crown doesn't get easier, as it plays BU in the semifinals on Friday, and if there's a win in the offing, must face either Providence or surprising regular-season champion UMass-Lowell in the finals at TD Garden on Saturday.

Erik Haula, forward, Minnesota

A native of Finland and a junior, Haula has already reached his career high in points with 49 (16G, 33A) in eight fewer games than he needed to reach the mark in his sophomore campaign. His 33 assists rank second in the country, and the 5-foot-11, 190-pounder who plays bigger than his size is second to Gaudreau in PPG at 1.40. Minnesota ranks best in all the land, clicking at 3.61 goals per contest, and Haula was a key part of a program which stayed in the top three for most of the season.

Still the top team in the country, the Gophers are sitting pretty in the Final Five, coming off a sweep of Bemidji State to gain the semifinals, where they face Colorado College tonight.

Greg Carey, forward, St. Lawrence

The Saints didn't the world on fire this season, but the tiny school out of Canton, New York boasted a forward line with plenty of punch. The junior winger was the top scorer for the program, striking for a national-high 28 goals and placing second to Walters with 51 points.

St. Lawrence finished sixth in the ECAC and had their season end last weekend in a two-game sweep by Yale in the quarterfinals, but boasted the fourth best offense in the conference thanks to Carey and new Philadelphia Flyers signee Kyle Flanagan.

Make sure to check out the official Hobey site for its initial 10 finalists. Let the debate begin.