Luke Mittelstadt’s two goals in a span of 1:49 in the third period lifted the top-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers to a 6-2 win over Boston University in the Frozen Four on Thursday in Tampa, Fla.
Logan Cooley had two empty-net goals and an assist, while Mike Koster had a goal and an assist for Minnesota. Rhett Pitlick also scored for the Golden Gophers, with Aaron Huglen collecting two assists.
The Golden Gophers (29-9-1) advanced to Saturday’s title game, where they will face second-seeded Quinnipiac (33-4-3), which knocked off third-seeded Michigan 5-2 in Thursday’s second semifinal.
Minnesota, which will play in the final for the first time since falling to Union (N.Y.) in 2014, is seeking its first national championship since winning back-to-back titles in 2002-03.
Sam Stevens and Jay O’Brien each scored, while Domenick Fensore finished with two assists for the Terriers (29-11-0).
Justen Close made 30 saves for Minnesota, which outshot BU 34-31. Drew Commesso had 28 stops for the Terriers.
Opening the third period on a two-man advantage, the Golden Gophers took the lead for good shortly after their first power-play expired.
After receiving a pass from Bryce Brodzinski, Koster slid the puck into the slot to Mittelstadt, who wristed a shot past Commesso with 18:20 left in the game.
Mittelstadt struck again less than two minutes later, when he scored off assists from Ryan Chesley and Huglen with 16:31 remaining.
Cooley capped the scoring with a pair of empty-net goals in the final 2:41.
Trailing 2-1 after the first period, the Terriers pulled even on the power play. O’Brien deflected Fensore’s shot from a few feet inside the blue line past Close with 11:54 left in the second period. Matt Brown was also credited with an assist.
BU took a 1-0 lead when Stevens scored off assists from Fensore and Jamie Armstrong with 9:22 left in the first period before the Golden Gophers closed the period with two power-play goals.
Koster halved the lead when he scored off assists from Cooley and Jaxon Nelson with 4:51 left before the Golden Gophers struck again on the man-advantage 50 seconds later.
After getting a pass near the left post from Mittelstadt, Huglen slid the puck between his legs — and between those of BU defenseman Cade Webber — to Pitlick, who scored from just a few feet away.
–Field Level Media
