SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s hockey team is set for a MIAC quarterfinal playoff contest against the University of St. Thomas at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Mendota Heights, Minn. The winner will advance to the semifinals Saturday against Saint John’s University. The No. 5-seed Gusties enter with an 11-11-3 overall record, while the No. 4-seed Tommies are 12-10-3 overall. The last playoff meeting between these teams was in 2018, and resulted in a 5-4 overtime win for the Gusties.
The Series: Thursday’s contest marks the 143rd contest between the Gusties and Tommies with St. Thomas leading the all-time series 72–62-9. The two teams last met for a series on Jan. 24-25 with Gustavus taking a 3-2 victory Friday at home followed by a 3-3 tie with a shootout victory for the Gusties the following day.
Scouting the Gusties: Gustavus is most recently coming off a split series against the Bethel Royals. Through 24 games played, Caleb Anderson continues to lead the Gusties with 33 points from 16 goals and 17 assists, with his total goals and points leading the MIAC. Connor Clemons has 25 games played, and totals 23 points on nine goals and 14 assists while Nick Klishko has 18 points with six goals and 12 assists. The Gusties are first in the MIAC in power play percentage with a mark of 29.3 and third in goals per game average with 3.38. Robbie Goor has made 16 MIAC starts in net with a .910 save percentage and is ranked fourth in the MIAC with a goal against average of 2.34.
Scouting the Tommies: St. Thomas is coming out of a weekend series against Augsburg winning both contests with a score of 5-3 on Friday and a score of 5-4 on Saturday. Through 25 games the Tommies are third in power-play percentage with a mark of 24.5 and are first in goals per game with 3.50. Brett Gravelle leads St. Thomas with 21 points from eight goals and 13 assists. John Peterson has 19 points on eight goals and 11 assists while Johnny Panvica has 15 points with eight goals and seven assists. Camden Burggrabe has made 13 MIAC starts in net for the Tommies with a .884 save percentage.