Top-ranked St. Cloud State cruises past shorthanded Gophers 5-2

Published Jan. 7, 2018 12:44 a.m. ET

The St. Cloud State Huskies showed Minnesota why they're the top-ranked program in the nation, routing the Gophers 5-2 at the National Hockey Center on Saturday night.

The score was 1-1 after a period, but the Huskies jumped ahead with three goals to take a 4-1 lead before Minnesota’s Tyler Sheehy found the back of the net with 13 minutes to play.

Huskies forward Mikey Eyssimont tallied two goals and an assist in St. Cloud's win.

The Gophers (12-9-1, 4-7-1-1 Big Ten) were without second-leading scorer Tommy Novak due to injury, as well as Casey Mittelstadt and Ryan Lindgren, the latter two because their equipment didn’t arrive on time from competing for Team USA at the World Juniors.

Minnesota goaltender Eric Schierhorn made 29 stops, while St. Cloud State's Jeff Smith stopped 21 pucks for the Huskies.

The two inner-state rivals will finish the home-and-home series Sunday at Mariucci. The puck drops at 6 p.m.