Tim Ornell pushes the puck up the ice.
Goaltender Matt Lopes registers a kick save.
Niko Suoraniemi carries the puck over the Gustie blueline.
The Gustavus men’s hockey team jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first period, however the Bethel Royals took over from there out-scoring the Gusties 6-1 the rest of the way to claim the 6-3 win in St. Peter. The Gusties were led by Patrick Dynan who scored two goals and assisted on the third Gustavus goal.
Gustavus got off to a very quick start as Patrick Dynan scored :25 seconds after the opening face-off to give the Gusties the early 1-0 lead. Cody Mosbeck picked up the assist on the goal. At the 14:59 mark, Dynan extended the Gustavus lead to 2-0 with his second goal of the period. Late in the period, the Gusties were whistled for two penalties within :30 seconds and the Royals would make Gustavus pay scoring two goals in the final two minutes of the period to tie the score at 2-2. Brad Peterson scored the first Royal goal at 17:52 as Bethel was skating with a 4-on-3 advantage. With :22 seconds remaining in the period and the Royals skating with a 5-on-4 advantage Dan Bonne lit the lamp tying the score at 2-2.
In the second period, Gustavus moved back into the lead on a goal by Mitch Carlson at the 3:38 mark. Late in the period, Bethel would tie the score at 3-3 on a shorthanded goal by Matt Hall. The score was tied 3-3 at the end of the second period.
The third period turned out to be all Bethel as the Royals claimed their first lead of the game on a goal by Christian Fogarty just :38 seconds into the final 20 minutes. Bethel would pad its lead with two Dan Bonne goals in the middle of the period. Bonne’s second goal of the night came at 8:31 and then his third goal came at 10:02. Bethel outscored the Gusties 3-0 in the third period despite being outshot by the Gusties 11-6.
Matt Lopes suffered the loss in the nets for the Gusties. He allowed all six goals while making 21 saves. Aaron Damjanovich picked up the win in goal for Bethel as he turned away 34 shots.
Bonne’s hat trick led the Royals, while Patrick Dynan had a big night for the Gusties with two goals and an assist.
The two teams will wrap up the series tomorrow night at Bethel’s Rink in Blaine. The Royals have now claimed five straight wins over the Gusties dating back to the 2005-06 season. On the season, Bethel improves to 9-4-1 overall and 4-2-1 in the MIAC, while Gustavus falls to 7-8-1 overall and 4-3-0 in league play.