After a week off to try and figure out what went wrong in their opening series of the season, the Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s hockey team will take the bus ride up Interstate 35 to face off against a ranked in-state rival. The Gophers will face their second of three straight ranked opponents when they take on Minnesota-Duluth at Amsoil Arena this weekend. It’s a homecoming for Gopher head coach Brett Larson who played for the Bulldogs and was an assistant coach there for many years before taking the St. Cloud State job, and you can be sure he would love to beat his former team and mentor to get his first win behind the Gopher bench.
Minnesota opened the regular season two weekends ago in Houghton taking on former WCHA foe Michigan Tech. After the opening game of the season was delayed by a day due to ice issues in the arena, the #19 ranked Huskies gutted out a pair of close wins over Minnesota 3-2 and 3-1. Tate Prichard, Beckett Hendrickson and Mason Moe scored Minnesota’s three goals thus far. It was the first time Minnesota has lost the first two games of the season since 2015-16, and the first time the Gophers have been swept in a non-conference road series since 1999. Former Gopher Owen Bartoszkiewicz loves to pay his old team and is now 3-1 for the Huskies against the Gophers than past two seasons. Minnesota was missing star LJ Mooney who missed the series with an udder body injury—but the scoring woes are still going to be an issue.
The Bulldogs started the season ranked #5 in the nation but fell to #9 after losing and drawing a tie at Augustana last weekend. UMD swept Long Island in Duluth to open the season, but were missing their star and 2026 Hobey Baker Award winner Max Plante against the Vikings last weekend, and he will not play against the Gophers this weekend. That turns what was a team with an incredibly powerful top line of Plante, his brother Zam Plate and Jason Shaugabay into a two-headed force rather than three players who can beat you. That showed as the Bulldogs only scored four goals on the weekend against Augustana after scoring 11 the weekend prior. Shaugabay leads the team with seven points, while St. Cloud State transfer and former Larson player Barrett Hall leads UMD with three goals. The Bulldogs have been perfect on the penalty kill this season not allowing a goal on 18 chances on the season. In net its been a split for UMD with Carl Axelsson and Ethan Dahlmeir each starting a pair of games. Axelsson leads the way with a 1-0-1 record behind an impressive 0.48 goals-against average and a .974 save percentage.
It will be a big series for both schools this weekend as the Bulldogs always get get up to face their big brother they like to call UMTC. UMD is going all out wearing a throwback maroon jersey from the 1980’s and 1990’s which will see the Gophers likely wearing their home white jerseys on the road. The Gophers have owned the all-time series between the schools bringing in a 138-87-19 record into the weekend. But since both teams left the WCHA in 2013 it’s been a different story. In non-conference action the Bulldogs have been the dominant force with a 15-6-3 record against the Gophers. However, the road team has won the last four matchups in the series with Minnesota sweeping the Bulldogs in Duluth in 2024, and UMD returning the favor in Minneapolis last fall. But UMD will not have Max Plante this weekend who scored a goal in each win a year ago.
The Gophers would love to find a way to get Larson his first win as a Gopher in a place he knows well, and against an opponent he knows incredibly well and his his coaching mentor in UMD head coach Scott Sandelin. Minnesota will need to play a complete game and find a way to put the puck in the net. They hopefully may have Mooney back this weekend which should help on the offensive side of things, but they still will need to shut down Zam Plante and Shaugabay to keep the game close. Friday night’s faceoff is set for 7 PM, and Saturday’s will be a 6 PM puck drop. The games will air on My9 in Duluth, and will be simulcast on Fox9+ in the Twin Cities.