Abbey Murphy's empty-net, slapshot goal angers UMD
The Minnesota Golden Gophers women's hockey team picked up a big 4-2 win over Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday night but Abbey Murphy's empty-net goal at the end of the game angered the Bulldogs and gave hockey fans deja vu.
The goal came as UMD was looking to tie the game with the extra attacker late in the third period. Joefin Bouveng got control of the puck along the boards and Murphy made a beeline toward the net after receiving a breakaway pass.
With no one in front of her, Murphy wound up and delivered a slap shot into the net for the insurance goal. After losing the edge of her skates, Murphy was greeted by Bulldogs forward Clara Van Wieren who took offense to the emphatic nature of the goal.
If this looks familiar, it's because a similar situation unfolded between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators on Feb. 11. With the Leafs down 4-3 with the extra attacker, Senators forward Ridley Greig broke away with the puck and emphatically slapped the puck into the back of the net.
Maple Leafs forward Morgan Reilly took offense to the goal, delivered a cross-check to the head of Greig and incited a full-blown brawl in the closing seconds of Ottawa's 5-3 win.
"It was a lot adrenaline," Greig said when asked what his thoughts were when he decided on the slap shot back on Feb. 14. "It was the heat of the moment, the heat of the game. It was an emotional game. I just got a breakaway, and I thought I'd bury it."
Reilly received a five-game suspension for the hit and lost an appeal a few days later. While the incident happened just over a week ago, the similarities were not lost on hockey fans, who pointed it out while also admiring Murphy's ability to get under the skin of her opponents.
While a linesman stepped in before things got too chippy, emotions could have been running just as high in Saturday's game as the Gophers ranked fourth and the Bulldogs ranked eighth in USCHO.com's latest women's college hockey poll.
After finishing the regular season with a 25-7-2 record and a 19-7-2 mark in the WCHA, Murphy and the Gophers will begin the WCHA Tournament with a first-round matchup with Minnesota State on Friday night.
Abbey Murphy delivers a slapshot for a goal against UMD on Feb. 24, 2024.
Photo by Kelly Hagenson, University of Minnesota
