MINNEAPOLIS
In a series in which Minnesota has both recently and historically been the favorite, the records didn't matter as the Gophers lost another Friday night game.
Brett Olson scored 33 seconds into overtime as Michigan Tech beat No. 2-ranked Minnesota 3-2 in a back-and-forth brawl at Mariucci Arena, snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Gophers.
The Huskies (9-7-1, 6-6-1), who hadn't beaten Minnesota since March 6, 2009, came out to fight and didn't back down all night.
"We had a nice back-check from our guys, and we made a nice play," Olson said. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time in a good, old footrace."
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Gophers defenseman Seth Helgeson, who was in coverage on the final shot of the game, credited Olson for the play and said he was on task.
"If I look at (the play) now, I probably would've done the same thing - maybe just a different stick position so the puck didn't get away," Helgeson said. "But he made a good move, and he capitalized on the shot."
The momentum began to slip away from the Gophers (13-5-1, 10-3-0) in the third period, and Michigan Tech's Steven Seigo took advantage of a power play, scoring at 1:07 to put the Huskies up 2-1.
Helgeson, with the assistance of Mark Alt and Nate Condon, tied the score 2-2 at 6:57 of the third. Both teams' defenses played solidly the rest of the way, sending the game into overtime.
Though Minnesota has typically come out and scored quickly in games, Friday's was scoreless until 10:22 of the first period, when Alt's shot deflected off Michigan Tech's Patrick McCadden and went in the net. Jake Hansen and Erik Haula assisted.
"Today was rough," Alt said. "We came out kind of slow - not like we wanted to, (and we) ended up giving one away in overtime. This has happened to us before. Unfortunately, we come out slow on Friday night."
Minnesota and Michigan Tech finished the first period even with one goal and 10 shots apiece. The Gophers hope to get off to a quicker and more physical start tonight and get a win before taking a 20-day break, which ends with a Mariucci Classic game Dec. 30 against Niagara.
"We want to have a good feeling going into break, so we need to bounce back," Helgeson said. "We've got to park it and move on."
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