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It was Rhett Pitlick’s night as the star winger scored two goals before four minutes had ticked off the clock in the first period and Minnesota cruised to a 3-0 win over Penn State at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis. 

Pitlick deflected a puck by the Penn State goalie just 43 seconds into the game and then scored again 3 minutes, 6 seconds later for a commanding Minnesota lead. 

With the cushion, Gophers goalie Justen Close helped blank the Nittany Lions, including when the visitors had a 5-on-3 power play in the second period. Close finished the game with 36 saves. 

Connor Kurth’s sixth goal of the season gave the Gophers a 3-0 lead less than two minutes into the third period. 

Minnesota, ranked No. 9 in the nation, improved to 17-7-5 and 10-5-4 in conference play, trailing second place Michigan State and Big Ten leader Wisconsin. 

In women’s hockey, the Gophers got Abbey Murphy’s 28th goal of the season and that’s it for a 1-0 victory in the Interstate 94 rivalry with St. Cloud State. 

Skylar Vetter made 24 saves in the shutout. 

The U of M women are now 23-5-1 on the season and trailing only Wisconsin and Ohio State in the WCHA race. 

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports Nation All Gophers and was syndicated with permission.

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