Connor Kurth's hat trick helps Gophers men's hockey fly past Air Force

Kurth's career-best four-point day helped the U crush the Falcons.

Former St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko faces off with the Huskies for the first time as head coach of Minnesota Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis. / Zach Dwyer / St. Cloud Times via Imagn Content Services

The fifth-ranked Gophers men’s hockey team came flying out of the gates, beating Air Force 7-1 in its season opener in the Ice Breaker Tournament in Las Vegas Friday night behind a hat trick from Connor Kurth. 

Kurth got the Gophers (1-0-0) the lead just 1 minute, 47 seconds into the contest, taking a cross-ice feed from Jimmy Clark on a 2-on-1 and sending it past Falcons goalie Guy Blessing.

Kurth scored the second of the night, too, with a goal 6 minutes, 23 seconds into the second period. 

It was a four-goal second period overall for the U as Ryan Chesley scored just 1 minute, 16 seconds later to make it a 3-0 advantage, and Sam Rinzel’s goal at 9:31 made it a 4-0 lead. 

Owen Dubois got the Falcons (1-2-0) on the scoreboard with a power-play tally 14 minutes, 46 seconds into the second, but Beckett Hendrickson scored just under four minutes later to push it back to a four-goal advantage for the Gophers. 

Kurth scored his third of the night just two minutes into the third period, and Chesley scored his second of the night 29 seconds later for the first multigoal game of his career. 

Four Gophers skaters finished with multipoint nights, led by Kurth’s career-best four-point performance. Matthew Wood tallied three assists, Clark had a pair of assists and Chesley had the two goals.

“There was a lot to like (Friday),” Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. “We had a great transition game, and our speed really showed up at times. What I really liked was our down low play and we were putting pressure on (Air Force Friday). Connor Kurth had the big night; that line really shined.” 

Gophers goalie Nathan Airey had 21 saves on 22 shots. 

The Gophers face Omaha in the Ice Breaker championship game Saturday in a 9:30 p.m. puck drop in Las Vegas.