MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s hockey team started its weekend road series at Concordia with a shootout victory after skating to a 4-4 tie Friday night. The Gusties move to 3-16-3 overall and 1-10-2 in the MIAC, while the Cobbers move to 9-11-2 overall and 6-6-1 in the league.
Concordia took the opening lead 5:51 into the first but the Gusties answered less than five minutes later as Kyle Heffron (So., Rosemount) scored his first of two goals on the night. Dylan Gast (Sr., Dellwood) and Christian Miller (Fy., Grand Rapids) had the assists and the score remained 1-1 after 20 minutes.
The Gusties took a 2-1 lead less than a minute into the second as the Russian duo of Stanislav Danaev (Jr., Moscow, Russia) and Petr Philippov (So., Moscow, Russia) connected for a score. Philippov tallied his first goal of the season. But the Cobbers were quick to respond, tying the game less than a minute later and then gaining a 3-2 advantage midway through the second. Concordia went ahead 4-2 with a power play goal at the 11:37 mark before the Gusties found the back of the net with less than two minutes remaining in the second with a power play goal of their own. Heffron tallied his fourth goal of the season with the help of Jack Kubitz (Jr., Wayzata) and Danaev.
Trailing 4-3 in the third period, the Gusties tied the game at the 4:45 mark on a goal from Nate Stone (Fy., Edina), his sixth of the season, assisted by Jac Triemert (So., Woodbury) and Joey Gimberlin (So., Mendota Heights). Neither team was able to net the game winner in regulation or overtime and the game was sent to a shootout.
Both teams were unsuccessful in the first two rounds of the shootout and after the Cobbers missed their third attempt, Heffron netted the only shootout score, giving the Gusties the extra MIAC point.
Concordia outshot the Gusties 32-28 as Jackson Hjelle (Jr., Delano) made 28 saves. The Gusties went 1-for-3 on the power play while the Cobbers were 1-for-4.
Game two for the series in Moorhead is set for 2 p.m. Saturday.