St. Paul, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s hockey team was shut out 4-0 by Hamline University in a special Thursday night edition of MIAC hockey played at the Drake Ice Arena. Piper goaltender Beau Christian had an answer for everything Gustavus threw at him, making a total of 33 saves on the way to his second shutout of the season.
Gustavus falls to 11-6-3 overall and 5-5-1 in the MIAC with the loss, while Hamline picks up two points and moves to 9-11-2 overall and 6-6-1 in the MIAC.
The two teams headed into the locker rooms with the scored tied 0-0 after Hamline outshot Gustavus 12-to-6 in the opening period.
Following a game misconduct charge in which Brian White was sent to the showers after a checking from behind penalty early in the second period, Hamline’s Nick Widing tallied the eventual game-winner at the 2:05 mark to give Hamline a 1-0 lead. Not long after the Widing goal, Hamline went up 2-0 after Joel Scattarelli got open in front of the net, knocking home a power play goal off a Jordan VanGilder assist at the 3:34 point. VanGilder was also credited with the first assist on the Widing goal.
Gustavus had several good looks to start the third period, yet couldn’t find a way to beat Christian. Cam Stowers broke the game open with Hamline’s second power play goal of the night at the 8:04 mark of the third period. Hamline would finish 2-for-4 on the man-advantage in the game.
The Pipers brought the score to a final at 4-0 when Nick Widing hit the back of the night for the second time, scoring an unassisted short-handed goal at the 12:38 mark.
The Gusties evened out the shot tally by the end of the contest, outshooting the Pipers 16-4 in the third period and 33-28 in the game. Gustavus finished 0-for-5 on the power play and has not scored on its last nine chances on the man-advantage.
Tyler Venne suffered the loss after allowing four goals and making 24 saves. Venne drops to 1-2-3 on the season. Christian improves to 9-10-1 on the year and has stopped 69-straight Gustavus shots, a mark to dates back to Hamline’s 3-0 victory over the Gusties in the MIAC Playoffs last season.
The Gustavus men’s hockey team will regroup and look to pick up a split at home for the series finale on Friday night at Don Roberts Ice Rink. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m.