It’s hard enough to win a hockey game when you give away a goal. Doing it twice in the same game is a sure recipe for disaster.

The Gophers were stung by two major blunders by goalie Liam Souliere on Friday as seventh-seeded Notre Dame pulled out a 3-2 victory in Game 1 of the teams’ Big Ten men’s hockey quarterfinals playoff series at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Game 2 is tonight at 7 p.m. If the Gophers win to extend the series, the deciding game of the best-of-three series would be played Sunday at 6 p.m.

“Unfortunately ... we’ve been here before,” Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. “The only thing we didn’t do is win the game tonight. And no one feels worse than Liam. He’s been so good for us, and that’s hockey.”

Matthew Wood and Sam Rinzel scored for the second-seeded Gophers (24-9-4), while Jimmy Snuggerud assisted on both tallies.

Notre Dame (11-23-1), which had lost seven of its last eight, got goals from Axel Kumlin, Michael Mastrodomenico and Brennan Ali, while goalie Owen Say stopped 30 of 32 shots.

The Irish struck first in shocking fashion just 1:30 into the game. From center ice, Kumlin lofted a high, floating shot on goal. Souliere had a clear look at the puck the entire way, but it slipped through his glove and into the net.

Souliere’s second major blunder earned him a spot on the bench 1:18 into the second.

Minnesota’s veteran goalie tracked down a loose puck behind his net, but his clearing pass went directly to Ali in the right faceoff circle. As Souliere scrambled back into the crease, Ali spun and fired a backhander that found the back of the net for a 3-1 Irish lead.

Snuggerud, the Gophers’ captain and leading scorer, said Souliere’s teammates have his back no matter how Friday’s game played out.

“He’s been there for us so many times throughout the year, big saves in big opportunities,” Snuggerud said. “He’s a great guy and we’ll be there to support him.”

Nathan Airey came on in relief of Souliere and blanked the Irish the rest of the way, but the damage was done.

“You hate the outcome,” Motzko said. “The Gophers were pretty good tonight. But we had to chase the game and we gave them life.”

Say turned back several of Minnesota’s golden scoring chances. But late in the first, the Gophers caught a break when the Irish were called for too many men on the ice. The bench minor resulted in the game’s first power play, and Minnesota cashed in when Wood redirected Rinzel’s wrist shot from the center point past Say with 6.4 seconds to play in the period.

Rinzel pulled the Gophers to within a goal at 3-2 when he took a pass from Mason Nevers and wired a wrister past Say at 8:16 of the third. But the Gophers had 20 shots off target (compared to just six by Notre Dame), and it ended up burning them in the end.

“We thought if we scored one, we’d get two,” Motzko said of the third period. “We felt that, and the third one just never came.”

Now the Gophers — ranked No. 3 in the most recent national polls — are in must-win territory if they want to secure a postseason Big Ten title and shore up their resumé for the NCAA selection committee.

To underscore the importance of Saturday’s game, Rinzel put it succinctly: “Game 7 tomorrow.”