The Gustavus men’s hockey team jumped out to a 6-0 lead and then held off a late Saint John’s rally to claim a 6-4 win and complete the weekend sweep in the important MIAC series. The game, which was the prelude to the Minnesota Wild Skills Competition, was played in front of an estimated crowd of 4,000 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. David Martinson and Ross Ring-Jarvi each scored twice to lead the Gusties and Josh Swartout picked up the win in goal for Gustavus.
The Gusties jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals by Brad Wieck (11:26) and David Martinson (11:46) just 20 seconds apart in the first period. Gustavus, which out-shot Saint John’s 17-5 in the first 20 minutes, led 2-0 at the intermission.
Gustavus continued to build its lead early in the second period as Dane Erickson scored at the 3:41 mark and Ross Ring-Jarvi added a short-handed goal at 5:58 to make the score 4-0. Martinson added his second goal of the game at the 8:34 mark to make the score 5-0 and then Ring-Jarvi tallied his second goal at the 14:02 mark to extend the lead to 6-0. Saint John’s scored two goals in the final three minutes of the period and Gustavus led 6-2 after 40 minutes of play.
Gustavus forward Eric Bigham was whistled for a five-minute major penalty at the 15:44 mark of the third period and the Johnnies tallied two power play goals in the final three minutes of the game to make the final score 6-4.
The Gusties out-shot the Johnnies 27-21 in the game. Josh Swartout, who registered 17 saves, picked up the win in goal for Gustavus.
Gustavus, which improved to 7-1-2 in MIAC play and 13-4-2 overall, is currently in first place in the MIAC with 16 points. Hamline is in second place with a mark of 6-1-1 and 13 points.