Jimmy Snuggerud's OT winner helps Gophers win battle of Twin Cities

St. Thomas vs Minnesota — Minnesota forward Jimmy Snuggerud carries the puck as St. Thomas forward Lucas Wahlin defends in a nonconference matchup on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

By Jess Myers

October 13, 2023 at 11:14 PM

ST. PAUL 鈥� If we would鈥檝e known an on-ice clash between Minnesota and St. Thomas could be this much fun, we might not have waited nearly a century for them to get back together.

With these Twin Cities neighbors playing a regular season game for the first time since Jan. 26, 1927, the audience of 11,000-plus inside Xcel Energy Center got a roller coaster of a contest that might have been worth the 96-year wait

The Gophers and Tommies waged a back-and-forth battle that ended with Jimmy Snuggerud scoring in overtime, lifting top-ranked Minnesota to a 6-5 come-from-behind win in their season opener.

The Gophers had a two-goal lead in the second period, fell behind by two early in the third, then took the lead again on back-to-back goals by Brody Lamb before the Tommies forged a 5-5 tie.

鈥淚t was just staying composed, talking to everyone on the bench, staying positive and never letting down,鈥� said Lamb. 鈥淥ur offense will kick in and goals will start to come.鈥�

In the three-on-three extra session, Snuggerud made an end-to-end rush, slipped behind the Tommies defense and snapped a shot just under the crossbar for the winner. It was his second goal of the game.

HIMMY SNUGGERUD
— Minnesota Men鈥檚 Hockey (@GopherHockey)

Rookie Oliver Moore had a trio of assists for the Gophers (1-0-0) who came into the weekend ranked atop the USA Hockey / The Rink Live poll. They got 31 saves from goalie Justen Close, who knot the game in check during stretches where the Tommies had the momentum and an audience of more than 11,000 ticket-buyers on their side.

For St. Thomas (1-2-0), Lucas Wahlin scored twice in the third period, including the tying goal. Tommies goalie Aaron Trotter had 31 saves.

鈥淭hat was a great hockey game in a great environment,鈥� said Tommies coach Rico Blasi. 鈥淏oth teams played hard tonight. They made one extra play.鈥�

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Minnesota led 2-0 after one period before the Tommies scored the next four to get the crowd invigorated.

鈥淚 have no idea who that team was playing in the second period,鈥� Motzko said, noting many ways in which his team left him bewildered. 鈥淚 wasn't going to yell, and then I ended up yelling between periods. It鈥檚 the first game of the year, and we just got off-script.鈥�

The teams play again Saturday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis.