HOUGHTON, Mich. -- Michigan Tech forwards Nick Anderson, Tyler Shelast and Brandon Schwartz each recorded two-point efforts, but No. 1 ranked Minnesota took the opening game of Winter Carnival by a score of 7-4 over the Huskies Friday night in front of 3,649 at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

The Golden Gophers (19-6-4, 14-5-2 WCHA) built a quick 2-0 lead with a goal from Ryan Potulny :44 into the contest and a tally off the stick of Phil Kessel at the 2:07 mark.

Tech (7-19-3, 6-12-3 WCHA) answered with two goals of its own later in the first stanza. Chris Conner converted on a partial breakaway at 9:02 to secure his team-leading 16th goal of the season. Tyler Shelast was credited with his sixth helper of the year after he fired a near-perfect pass from neutral ice to Conner near the UM blue line. Conner made a shifty move and beat Minnesota goaltender Kellen Briggs five-hole.

Nick Anderson evened the score up at 2-2 for the Huskies less than 2:00 later. The senior winger tipped a puck out of mid-air past Briggs to earn his seventh marker of the season off assists from Brandon Schwartz and Peter Rouleau. Schwartz's helper was his 12th of the season, while Rouleau notched his second assist as a Husky.

The Golden Gophers scored the next four goals, one of which came in the first frame, with the other three coming in the final period of regulation. Evan Kaufmann allowed the visitors to regain the lead for good at 14:07 of the first period. Mike Vannelli then chipped two tallies in the middle session, including one at :39 and another at 2:35. Kaufmann scored once more at 3:11 of the stanza.

Netminder Michael-Lee Teslak left the game after Minnesota's sixth goal in favor of fellow newcomer Rob Nolan. Teslak finished with 13 saves.

MTU battled back into the game later in the second period with two goals to cut UM's lead to 6-4. John Scott rifled home a shot from the top of the point at 3:30, which pushed his season point total to 2-1--3. Shelast corralled his second helper of the evening and seventh overall on the goal.

Nearly 14 minutes later and on the power play, Justin St. Louis took advantage of bouncing puck that caromed off the boards right onto his stick. The rookie buried his third tally of the year. Anderson and Schwartz each solidified multi-point games on the play with their sixth and 13th assists of the season, respectively.

Potulny tacked on a goal :21 into the final period to give the Gophers a three-goal cushion they wouldn't relinquish.

UM outshot MTU by a 43-20 clip for the night.

Nolan turned away 23-of-24 shots for Tech, while Kellen Briggs held 16 saves in earning his 15th win of the year for the Gophers.

The Huskies went 1-of-2 on the power play and held Minnesota scoreless on five chances with a man advantage.

Michigan Tech will play the rematch with the Gophers tomorrow night at 5:07 p.m.

Notes: Nick Anderson earned his first multi-point game of the year and his third as a Husky with a goal and an assist tonight . . . Brandon Schwartz's two-assist performance marked his fifth multi-point effort of the season and 19th of his career . . . Tyler Shelast notched two assists in one game for the first time of his career tonight and he tallied his second multi-point game of the season . . . Conner's goal was the 68th of his career at Michigan Tech.