Gophers men's hockey loses OT heartbreaker to Notre Dame

"We got the response out of Notre Dame we knew we were going to get, and they had a terrific response all night," Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. "They had a few guys that outplayed a lot of our guys. We woke up, had a good third period to get back but that's the lesson. The second half of the year, we're going to be in these every night."

The Gophers (19-5-2) had rallied to tie the game, getting a goal from Matthew Wood 7 minutes, 14 seconds into the third period to knot it at 3-3. Minnesota never led in the game, but had an answer for every goal from the Irish (8-15-1).

After Ian Murphy put Notre Dame up first with his goal 7 minutes, 43 seconds into the first period, Jimmy Snuggerud answered just under five minutes later. When Carter Slaggert scored a go-ahead goal 2 minutes, 25 seconds into the second period, Luke Mittelstadt had another answer 3 minutes, 5 seconds later, knotting it back up at 2-2.

And when Cole Knuble put the Irish back up just over five minutes later, Wood came up with an answer in the third.

Owen Say had a 30-save effort for the Irish on 33 shots. Liam Souliere stopped 27 of 31 for the Gophers.

After splitting the two-game series with the Irish, the schedule doesn't get any easier for Minnesota. Next up is a two-game series against top-ranked Michigan State that begins with a 6 p.m. puck drop Friday in East Lansing, Mich.