Gophers’ Brody Lamb survives dangerous hit without serious damage – Twin Cities

A split second before colliding with Notre Dame’s Justin Janicke during a game in South Bend, Indiana, last Friday, Gophers forward Brody Lamb lifted his right skate perhaps a quarter-inch off the ice. That little bump may have saved Lamb’s season, as he survived a dangerous knee-on-knee hit from Janicke and could potentially return to the ice as soon as this weekend.

After a pair of wins over the Fighting Irish last weekend, the Gophers (12-2-0) have risen to third in the national polls, behind top-ranked Michigan State and defending national Denver, despite a spate of injuries and illnesses . heading into a non-conference home series with Alaska.

But the fact that medical evaluations for Lamb – who leads the team with nine goals in 13 games – did not reveal any serious structural problems with his knee feels like a victory in itself.

“We’re fortunate there was no ligament damage,” Gophers coach Bob Motzko said after the team’s practice Tuesday at 3M Arena in Mariucci. “He just took his foot off the ice. If his foot had been planted, it would have been a different story. That’s how we dodged a bullet.”

Janicke, a senior from Maple Grove, was assessed a five-minute major penalty for the hit, and he served a one-game suspension imposed by the Big Ten on Saturday night.

Lamb did not play in Saturday’s game at Notre Dame and was not on the ice for Tuesday’s practice, but the coach said they will know more about his availability later this week. After playing just four of its first 14 games at home, Minnesota concludes the pre-Christmas portion of its schedule with six straight games in Minneapolis. After the two with Alaska this weekend, Big Ten rival Michigan visits, after which the top-ranked Spartans close out the unofficial first half.

But the players claim no one is looking past the non-conference games on Friday and Saturday.

“Staying focused on each team is so important, especially in college hockey. Because if you lose to a team that is not ranked as high as you, it certainly has a huge impact,” said co-captain Jimmy Snuggerud. “Motz and the coaching staff have done a great job keeping the guys informed about what we have this weekend. They are a good team, they are a strong team and we have to stay focused.”

After sophomore goalie Nathan Airey and graduate student Liam Souliere split the Gophers’ first 12 games, Airey got both starts at Notre Dame.

“The one thing I didn’t want to do was split (goaltenders) all year long and then have to make a decision at the end,” Motzko said. “I might go the other way in the middle of the year. We like both goalkeepers. You’ll see Liam there again right away. It was just a gut feeling to… mix it up and not have something be a constant.”

The games with Alaska start Friday at 7:00 PM and Saturday at 5:00 PM.