The winning streak has ended at five for the Minnesota Gophers men's hockey team and it was a gut-wrenching way to have it end Friday night in East Lansing, Mich.
The Gophers led 2-0 after Jimmy Snuggerud fed Oliver Moore with under 80 seconds to go in the second period, but it was all Michigan State in the third period as they scored three times en route to a 3-2 victory.
The Spartans out-shot the Gophers 17-8 over the final 20 minutes, including the winning goal from Daniel Russell with four seconds left in the game.
As devastating as the game-winning goal was, the game-tying goal with 4:58 to play was just as brutal. Minnesota was on a power play when Tommi Männistö skated through three Gophers and took a shot that Karsen Dorwart scooped up on a juicy rebound and buried for a goal.
The Gophers were 0-for-5 on the power play.
Minnesota entered the game ranked No. 9 in the country and Michigan State at No. 8. The Spartans are now 17-5-3 overall and 11-2-2 in the Big Ten while the Gophers are 14-7-4 overall and 7-5-3 in Big Ten. At 23 points, the Gophers are 12 points behind the conference-leading Spartans.
The two teams meet again Saturday at 3 p.m. CT.
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