"We lost to a really good team tonight," head coach Tom Anastos said. "They beat us, ultimately, in every phase of the game. [We] dug ourselves a hole in the first period. I thought the goals just went in too easy."

The Gophers jumped on the Spartans early in this contest. After sophomore forward JT Stenglein got called for charging just two minutes in, Minnesota capitalized on their power play. Sam Warning of the Gophers fired a pass through the crease that found a wide open Travis Boyd who slid it in a empty net for his fourth goal on the season. 

MSU got an opportunity to tie the game up with their special teams, drawing a penalty less than five minutes after the Gophers scored. With the man advantage, the Spartans deployed four forwards on the ice and got caught pushing too hard. Warning got control of a big rebound off Hildebrand and made no mistake of missing the net to make it 2-0. 

The Gophers added one more special teams goal in the first, after Kyle Rau made a nice play on the power play to beat Hildebrand on a backhand shot 13:57 into the period. 

"Being down 3-0 coming out of that period was a tough pill to swallow," Anastos said. "That was the start of the frustration, and I didn't think that we handled it well enough tonight."

Starting the 2nd period with 38 seconds left on their power play, the Spartans were desperate to score the games next goal. That was quickly spelled off, however, as Minnesota defenseman Mike Reilly made a nice individual effort to beat Hildebrand on a backhand and make it 4-0 early in the second period. 

The Gophers would add another power play goal in the third period, scoring on a 5-on-3 advantage. Connor Reilly blasted a one-time from the slot that beat Hildebrand once more, who stopped 19 of the 24 Gopher shots. 

Minnesota finished the night 3-for-7 on the power play, while MSU couldn't muster anything on their three power play opportunities. The Spartans did get their fair share of scoring opportunities throughout the game, with the biggest coming from a Haag shot off the post in the second period. 

"As the game went on, we took some bad penalties that aren't acceptable," Anastos said. "We got to put the game behind us, figure out how to regroup, and come back at her tomorrow with a much better effort tonight."

Minnesota goaltender Adam Wilcox stood tall throughout the game, however, stopping all 28 shots that MSU sent his way.

MSU will get a chance to redeem itself Saturday night, as they face off with Minnesota again at Munn Ice Arena at 5 p.m.