After digging early hole, Gophers score five straight to beat Spartans
MINNEAPOLIS -- Nick Lehr's first career start in goal couldn't have begun much worse than it did Thursday. The end result for the Gophers freshman netminder, though, was a positive one.
Lehr allowed three goals on the first four shots he faced in his first start of the year as he filled in for the injured Adam Wilcox. By the midway point of the first period Thursday at Mariucci Arena, Lehr and Minnesota found themselves with a three-goal deficit.
Thanks to five unanswered goals by the Gophers, Lehr's nerves calmed down. He stopped the final 20 shots he faced to lift Minnesota to a 5-3 win over the visiting Spartans in a game that had plenty of implications in the Big Ten standings.
"I'm really happy for Nick," said Gophers coach Don Lucia. "We talked about it's all about being a team. Guys have to step up. Obviously, not the way we want to start the game. The first two shots go in and three of the first four. But to his credit, he settled in."
Michigan State didn't fire many shots on Lehr in the first period -- just five -- but three of those found the back of the net. Joe Cox put the Spartans up 1-0 when he buried one past Lehr on MSU's first shot on goal of the game just 1:25 into the contest. Eight minutes later, Brent Darnell made it a 2-0 game on the Spartans' second shot.
Cox scored again 1:13 after Darnell's goal on just the fourth shot Lehr faced. Michigan State only needed four shots for a 3-0 lead against the Gophers freshman, who was down but not out.
"Nerves were there. . . . You could say the three goals kind of showed the nerves, but I think that's just something that happens here and there," Lehr said. "I think I battled back, and the guys were always there for me."
Minnesota got a big goal from Travis Boyd late in the first period to put the Gophers on the board heading into the first intermission. Boyd collected a loose puck in front of the net and fired it past Spartans goalie Jake Hildebrand to cut MSU's lead to 3-1.
The Gophers fed off that goal and went on to score three more in the second period to eventually take a 4-3 lead. Mike Reilly netted his sixth goal of the year on a shot from a tough angle to Hildebrand's right that made it a 3-2 game. Less than four minutes later, Hudson Fasching scored on the power play to even the game at three.
Senior forward Sam Warning went on to score the next two goals for the Gophers, including what proved to be the game-winner late in the second. Warning redirected a shot from Leon Bristedt that snuck past Hildebrand, putting Minnesota up 4-3 with 1:30 remaining in the second.
By that point, the three early goals Lehr allowed had been forgotten as the rest of the goalie's teammates picked him up.
"It's a team game," Warning said. "Once we were down 3-0, we called (Lehr) over during a TV timeout. Everybody got behind him and told him, 'Just play your game, don't worry about it.' He went out for the rest of the game and played his heart out."
Warning made sure Lehr earned his first career victory as he buried an empty-netter with 1.2 seconds remaining. It was Warning's second goal of the night and his 10th of the season after he snapped a nine-game goal-less drought last Saturday against Penn State.
Though it was the first career start for Lehr, it was his second career college game. He entered Minnesota's game against Michigan earlier this year in relief of Wilcox after the junior netminder allowed five goals on 11 shots. Lehr gave up a pair of goals in the Gophers' 7-5 loss to the Wolverines, but he got his feet wet in the process.
Thursday, Lehr stopped 13 shots in the second period and all six he faced in the third to earn the victory. The nerves that were there at the start of the game had fully vanished after he settled into a rhythm and kept the Spartans off the scoreboard in the final two periods.
"I was like, 'They're battling for you. You've got to battle for them,'" Lehr said of his teammates. "I just wanted to keep it really simple for myself."
Lucia said there's a chance Wilcox will start Friday's series finale against MSU. The Gophers' go-to goalie was dinged up in Minnesota's game last Saturday at Penn State. With a short week, and with the playoffs to consider, Lucia wanted to give Wilcox another day of rest.
If Wilcox can't go, Lehr showed he had the ability to shake off his early struggles to provide the goaltending Minnesota needed in a crucial victory.
"I think the mental toughness part when you start like that, it's how you stay with the game," Lucia said of Lehr. "I thought he really stayed with the game. The guys did a good job in front of him, whether it's shot-blocking or not giving up many chances. It was a good team effort in a big game."
Follow Tyler Mason on Twitter
