Men’s hockey: Brody Lamb’s OT winner lifts Gophers past Badgers in defensive Border Battle

MADISON, Wis. — Brody Lamb completed a 2-on-1 break 62 seconds into overtime to lift the Minnesota Gophers to a 2-1 win over the Wisconsin Badgers in the opening game of their Border Battle showdown Friday.

Lamb caught a pass from Oliver Moore and slammed a puck past Badgers goalie Kyle McClellan for the win, the first by Minnesota over their border rivals this season.

The win was the seventh in the past eight games for Minnesota (16-7-4 overall, (9-5-3 Big Ten) and kept their slim hopes of a third consecutive Big Ten regular season title alive. Gophers goalie Justen Close had 40 saves in the win and was particularly strong in a middle period dominated by Wisconsin. Moore had a first-period goal for Minnesota.

For the Badgers (20-6-1, 11-4-0), it was Owen Lindmark with their only goal as Wisconsin’s nation-leading defense was outdueled by the visiting Gophers. Kyle McClellan had 27 saves in the loss for Wisconsin, which had won the previous three games in this rivalry.

Moore, who has been on a recent hot streak and was honored as the second star of the week by the Big Ten earlier in the week, scored his fourth goal in the last three games near the midway point of the opening period. Skating in on a 2-on-1 break with Jimmy Snuggerud on his wing, Moore froze McClellan by glancing like he might pass the puck, then snapped a wrist shot past the goalie for the only goal of the opening period.

The game was physical, but officials let them play — for the first 35 minutes anyway. But when Gophers forward Jimmy Clark dropped Jack Horbach with a high check, it was initially called a five-minute major. After video review, the penalty was downgraded to two minutes, and Minnesota killed the Wisconsin power play despite five Badgers shots with the man advantage.

Overall, Wisconsin dominated the second period with a 21-5 lead in shots, and hit the pipe twice, but could not find the equalizer through 40 minutes.

The Badgers finally got on the board early in the third, when traffic in front of the net likely prevented Close from seeing the loose puck, or the backhand shot by Lindmark that tied the game 1-1.

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