When the St. Cloud State Huskies pulled their goaltender following a timeout with over two minutes to play Friday night at Ridder Arena and trailing the Gophers 4-2, it was no surprise that Gophers right winger Abbey Murphy was on the ice for the ensuing faceoff.

Sure, the senior from Chicago is one of the Gophers’ more responsible defenders, but she also was enjoying a two-goal game.

It took a somewhat extended shift, but Murphy completed the hat trick at 18:42 as the Gophers beat the Huskies 5-2.

“It was pretty apparent that she wanted to seal the deal there,” Gophers coach Brad Frost said. “Good for her.”

Murphy was coming off a five-point weekend in the Gophers’ sweep in Duluth (one goal and four assists), for which she was named WCHA forward of the week. Her one goal was the
game winner last Friday night.

She was credited with the game winner again on Friday.

“She’s playing the right way,” Frost said. “She’s very disciplined. Not just in terms of penalties, but in our ‘D’ zone — stopping and starting, stick on the ice. She’s one of our best penalty killers.

“Her overall game just continues to improve. Everyone sees the goal scoring, and that’s always going to be there. But she’s creating more chances for her linemates by doing the right thing.”

After the game, Murphy deflected any talk of how well she is playing, focusing instead on how well the team has been playing.

“Just nice to come off a strong weekend as a team,” Murphy said. “We felt like we found a part of our team that we have been looking for. We’re playing as a unit and it’s always so much fun to play like that. Everyone’s contributing it their own way.”

The Gophers (11-3-1 overall, 7-3-1 WCHA) have won seven in a row.

“Last weekend we took a huge step forward against Duluth,” Frost said. “We’re continuing to form our identity. Every championship-level team has some sort of identity. We’re tough to play against, we’re defending well. We’re strong on pucks, which forces turnovers and creates opportunities.

“Tonight was another great step after a really great weekend.”

The Gophers needed only 23 seconds to take a 1-0 lead when Sydney Morrow scored on a wrist shot from the right point. The Huskies tied the game at 15:34 of the first period when former St. Thomas forward Abby Promersberger scored her third goal of the season.

The Gophers regained the lead just over a minute later when Ava Lindsay scored on her own rebound, putting the puck in the net off the back of Huskies goaltender Emilia Kyrkko.

Murphy gave the Gophers a 3-1 lead at 3:19 of the second period. But the Huskies were able to pull within a goal with three minutes to play in the period on a goal by Ally Qualley.

The Gophers went on a power play in the opening minute of the third period, and they cashed in five seconds later on Murphy’s second goal of the game.

The Gophers got another strong performance in goal by freshman Hannah Clark, who continues to carry the load due to an injury to senior Skylar Vetter. It appears Clark will get most, it not all, of the starts the rest of the season.

“It looks like it is probably going to be long term,” Frost said of Vetter’s injury. “We’ll see later, but right now the net is Hannah’s.”

The Gophers’ third goaltender is junior Sophia Johnson, who has not started a game in her career. Frost said he’s not concerned that Clark will wear down due to the heavy minutes.

“We’re trying to manage her workload in practice,” he said. “She’s going to be fine.”

Briefly

Gophers senior forward Peyton Hemp assisted on Murphy’s second goal, giving her 100 career points. The Gophers and Huskies meet again on Saturday in St. Cloud.

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