Notre Dame upsets top-ranked Gophers 3-2

The Minnesota Gophers men’s hockey team suffered its first loss at home Friday, falling 3-2 to Notre Dame at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Tied at 2 heading into the third period, Fighting Irish junior forward Graham Slaggert took advantage of a Minnesota turnover and sent it past goaltender Jack LaFontaine for the game-winner with 4:43 left to play.

The top-ranked Gophers owned a pair of one-goal leads against Notre Dame. Jackson LaCombe tallied his first goal of the season in the first period to give Minnesota a 1-0 advantage. After the Irish evened the score, Gophers forward Sampo Ranta found the net early in the second period.

Don’t blink!

You’ll miss @RantaSampo‘s goal. 〽️ pic.twitter.com/ZQ3ZfvzzQF

— FOX Sports North (@fsnorth) January 16, 2021

Landon Slaggert lit the lamp for the Fighting Irish on a power play in the second period at tie the game at 2.

The Gophers were outshot by Notre Dame 27-19 and whiffed on two power-play opportunities. Irish goaltender Ryan Bischel, a native of Medina, Minn., notched 17 saves in the winning effort. LaFontiaine stopped 24 of Notre Dame’s 27 shots.

The Fighting Irish improved to 6-6-1 overall and 4-4-1 in the Big Ten. After starting the season a perfect 10-0, Minnesota (11-2, 9-2) has now lost two of its last three games.

The Gophers return to the ice at 5 p.m. Saturday for the series finale against Notre Dame. The game will be televised on FOX Sports North.