MINNEAPOLIS -- It had to be Justin Kloos.
As Minnesota and St. Cloud State skated to a tie after three periods, someone needed to step up for the Gophers to salvage a split. Kloos had already scored twice in regulation. Why not once more in overtime?
Sure enough, the Gophers sophomore found the back of the net for a third time Saturday at Mariucci Arena as he completed the hat trick to send Minnesota to a 4-3 victory over St. Cloud State. As a handful of hats fell onto the ice, Kloos celebrated with his teammates in the corner of the rink as the Gophers split this weekend's home-and-home series.
"It was pretty fun to be able to get a chance," said Kloos, who guessed his last hat trick came during his high school days at Lakeville South.
Two of Kloos' three goals bookended the scoring for Minnesota. After a scoreless first period, Kloos scored on the power play just 12 seconds into the second period on an impressive pass from captain Kyle Rau, who found Kloos cutting to the net.
St. Cloud State took a 2-1 lead later in the second period on goals by Andrew Prochno and Ethan Prow, but Kloos once again provided a big lift for Minnesota. After scoring 12 seconds into the period earlier in the second, Kloos' second goal came with just 12 seconds remaining before intermission. That sent the Gophers into the locker room tied at 2-all instead of trailing heading into the third period.
Both teams traded goals in the third period. Minnesota's Connor Reilly put the Gophers ahead temporarily when he fired a shot from above the faceoff circle that found its way through traffic and past Huskies goalie Charlie Lindgren. But St. Cloud State answered when Joey Benik capitalized on a Gophers turnover to tie it 3 with 5:26 to play in regulation.
Kloos saved the last of his heroics for overtime. Minnesota forward Taylor Cammarata stole the puck behind the Huskies' net and turned to find his linemate Kloos, who was cutting toward the net. Kloos fired a shot past Lindgren, beating the St. Cloud State netminder for the third time in the game. This one gave the Gophers a 4-3 win as Minnesota rebounded following Friday's 4-1 loss in St. Cloud.
"That play in overtime, it was 95 him and then he got me the puck," Kloos said of Cammarata. "We were kind of pressuring them pretty well. They were fumbling the puck, and Cammy just stripped the guy. I kind of just turned and he got the puck in the slot. I was lucky I was able to sneak one in."
With his third goal of the game, Kloos took over the team lead for goals this year with five. As a freshman last year, the Lakeville native led Minnesota with 16 goals. Though the season is still early, Kloos is showing once again that he has the potential to be the Gophers' top goal scorer once again.
"He'll go to the hard areas. His speed can help create," said Gophers coach Don Lucia. "He and Cammy have been playing together for I think three or four years now. They have a little chemistry together. They can play off each other, too."
Cammarata had assists on two of Kloos' three goals and now has five helpers on the year. The sophomore winger was teammates with Kloos when both played for Waterloo of the USHL before coming to Minnesota.
That chemistry on the ice was evident Saturday, and it resulted in a game-winning goal.
"I kind of took away from my guy down low. As soon as I looked up, I saw Kloos in the slot," Cammarata said. "It was such a hard game, a long game. It was good to get that win at the end."
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