St. Peter, Minn. – With less than one minute remaining in overtime, junior forward Gavin Tufte (Blaine, Minn.) got inside position on the opposition’s defenseman, accepted a pass from Tyler Lapic (Sr., New Prague, Minn.), and knifed his way across the goal mouth before burying a backhand into the back of the net to propel the Gustavus men’s hockey team to a 4-3 victory over UW-Stout on Saturday night at Don Roberts Ice Rink. In a back-and-forth game that featured a pair of teams hungry for their first win of the weekend, the Gusties energized the home crowd with their first overtime victory of the season. Gustavus improves to 2-2-0 overall with the win, while UW-Stout drops to 0-3-0.
“This game certainly had everything,” said head coach Brett Petersen after the game. “From outstanding saves to a few scuffles and disqualifications to a player scoring the overtime game-winner against his former team – it was certainly an interesting night at the Don.”
A transfer from UW-Stout last season, Gavin Tufte’s overtime goal was his second of the season and first game-winner.
After more than 15 minutes of scoreless hockey with UW-Stout on the power play, Gustavus was able to strike first when Tyler Lapic took advantage of a UW-Stout mistake at the blue line and went on a breakaway. With a defenseman bearing down on him, Lapic moved in on goaltender Spencer Viele with the puck on his backhand. The senior captain switched to his forehand for a brief moment before slipping the puck underneath Viele’s left leg pad on his backhand.
The goal was both Lapic’s first of the season and Gustavus’s first shorthanded.
Just over two minutes after the Gusties took the lead, the Blue Devils responded with a Jordan Tredinnick goal to knot the game at 1-1. Tredinnick picked off a pass in the neutral zone, skated up the left wing, and fired a shot that was saved by Erik Johnson (So., Rice, Minn.). Tredinnick got the puck back, however, on the same rush and beat Johnson with a wrister from the bottom of the right circle.
With the score tied 1-1 at the start of the second period, UW-Stout’s Jordan Stejskal was called for contact to the head and was issued a disqualification – giving Gustavus a five minute major at the 3:46 mark.
On the opening faceoff at the right circle of the UW-Stout zone following the penalty, Andy Pearson (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) won the draw cleanly back to rookie defenseman Jake Bushey (Duluth, Minn.) at the right point. Bushey took a pair of strides to center himself and find a window before snapping a wrister past the glove of Viele at the 4:01 mark.
Bushey now has a team-best four goals on the season and has scored a goal in each of his first four collegiate games.
Once again, UW-Stout had an answer shortly after. Jake Useldinger recorded the UW-Stout equalizer shorthanded when he beat Erik Johnson on a rebound following a 2-on-1 rush at the 7:15 mark.
At the 8:19 mark of the second, both teams were forced into an unfamiliar situation when Gustavus’s Jake Bushey and Darren Lapic (Jr., New Prage, Minn.) along with UW-Stout’s Riley Covard and Nolan Kirly were disqualified for fighting.
While on the penalty kill with less than four minutes remaining in the second, defenseman Drew Aspinwall (So., Maple Grove, Minn.) intercepted a pass at the red line, skated the puck across the UW-Stout blue line, and then rocketed a slap shot from the top of the right circle. The shot whistled by the goaltender’s glove once again for what was the team’s second short-handed goal of the game.
With Gustavus on top 3-2 in the third period, the Blue Devils tied the game on a Justin Moody goal from Jake Useldinger at 7:14.
Neither team could find the game-winner in regulation and a five-minute overtime session ensued.
Thanks to Tufte’s overtime winner, Gustavus goalie Erik Johnson picked up the first overtime win of his career and improves to 2-2-0 after allowing three goals and making a season-best 32 saves. His counterpart, Spencer Viele, suffered the loss after allowing all four goals and making 37 saves.
The Gusties finished with a 41-to-35 shots advantage and won 51 if 78 faceoffs. The Gusties went 1-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. Through four games, Gustavus remains perfect on the penalty kill (12-12).
Tonight’s game also had historical significance because of the man behind the Gustavus bench. With the win over the Blue Devils on Nov. 8, 2014, Brett Petersen picks up his 200th career victory, becoming just the sixth coach in the history of the MIAC to reach 200 career wins. He joins a select club made up of Don Roberts (Gustavus, 515-278-25), Terry Krypek (St. Thomas, 418-197-46), Don Olson (Saint Mary’s, 377-399-41), Ed Saugestad (Augsburg, 351-275-18), and John Harrington (Saint John’s, 241- 142-31). Petersen is now 200-150-32 during his Gustavus tenure.
The Gustavus men’s hockey team will dive head first into conference action next weekend when it travels to Moorhead, Minnesota to face Concordia College in a home-home series on Friday and Saturday night. Puck drop for Friday night’s contest is schedule for 7:00 p.m. while Saturday’s game will be played at 2:00 p.m.