MINNEAPOLIS—The Minnesota Gophers showed no lingering effects of last weekend’s sweep at the hands of the Denver Pioneers.
Patrick White had a goal and assist and goalie Alex Kangas made 26 saves to lead Minnesota to a 3-0 Western Collegiate Hockey Association win over Colorado College on Friday.
The Golden Gophers (14-15-2, 9-12-2) improved to 12-1-0 when holding opponents to two goals or less. Colorado College (17-11-3, 11-9-3) failed on four power plays, ending a streak of six straight games with at least one power-play goal.
Minnesota was coming off a sweep at conference-leading Denver. Before that, Minnesota was last swept at Colorado College.
The Gophers outshot the Tigers 35-26 while holding Colorado College to just four shots in the first period. The Tigers have had good success early, scoring in the first minute of a period 18 times this season.
White just managed to beat the clock in the first period, scoring with a second left for a 1-0 lead.
Tigers’ goalie Joe Howe, who finished with 32 saves, made 10 stops in the second period and kept Colorado College within a goal until Jordan Schroeder scored for the Gophers at 1:38 of the third period.
Josh Birkholz added Minnesota’s third goal at 11:36.
Colorado College still clings to fifth place in the WCHA. The top five teams get home-ice advantage for the conference playoffs.
