Junior forward Amanda Kessel is having a Wayne Gretzky-like season with 31 goals and 33 assists so far for the University of Minnesota women’s hockey team. Her 64 total points is nine more than her teammate, freshman Hannah Brandt, who is second in the nation with 55 points.
All that scoring comes in 22 games. Make that 22 consecutive victories for the No. 1 Gophers, who have a chance to skate into the NCAA record books this weekend against Minnesota State-Mankato.
The Gophers need just two more wins to tie a record set by Wisconsin for compiling 32-straight women’s hockey victories. Minnesota is 30-0 stretching back to last year, when it won the national championship.
The streak was put to the test in North Dakota on Saturday when UND and Minnesota were tied 1-1 after two periods. But Minnesota scored five goals in the third period — with two goals from Kessel, one from Brandt — to pull away with a 6-3 win.
