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The Minnesota Golden Gophers men's hockey team opened the regular season last weekend and got off to a good start.
The Gophers picked up two wins against a Michigan State team which was at the time ranked No. 16 in the USCHO poll. Not only did Minnesota win both games, they blew out the Spartans winning 5-1 on Friday and 7-1 on Saturday. The Gophers dominated the first period in both games, outscoring Michigan State 3-0 and 4-0 in the first period. With the two wins, Minnesota moved up from No. 2 to No. 1 in the USCHO poll. The Gophers received 46 of 50 first place votes.
The Minnesota-Deluth Bulldogs also began their regular season over the weekend, splitting a two-game series with Ohio State. The Bulldogs won their season opener 6-2 on Friday, but Ohio State came back with a 3-2 win on Saturday. Minnesota-Deluth gave up two early goals on Saturday, but were able to come back and tie the game with two goals of their own in the second period. Ohio State scored the game winning goal in a tightly contested third period. Minnesota-Deluth remained No. 13 in the USCHO poll.
Both teams will be back in action this week with Minnesota going on the road to face Michigan State and Minnesota-Deluth traveling to face Notre Dame.