David Martinson scored with 1:01 left in regulation to lift the Gustavus men’s hockey team over St. Thomas 3-2 on Saturday night in Mendota Heights, Minn. The Gusties, who earned their first regular-season sweep over the Tommies since the 1983-84 season, moved into a tie with Hamline for second place in the MIAC standings at 5-3-0 (10 points) and reached 10-7-0 overall. St. Thomas dropped to 3-2-1 in the league and 6-7-2 overall.
The Tommies recorded their first goal of the game when Tom Knutson scored his third goal of the series on a power play at 16:11 of the first period. The Gusties tied the score at 1-1 when Casey Dynan put a short shot into the upper right corner of the next past St. Thomas goaltender Tyler Chestnut with 1:07 left in the period. Rory Dynan and Ryan Noonan were credited with assists.
Knutson tallied his second goal of the game at 2:21 in the second period as the Tommies regained the lead at 2-1, which is where the score remained heading into the locker room.
Gustavus quickly evened the contest at two goals apiece when James Leathers scored an unassisted, power play goal 19 seconds into the third period. As the game appeared to be headed into extra periods, David Martinson scored his fourth goal of the weekend series at the 18:59 mark with Mitch Carlson picking up the assist. St. Thomas called timeout, pulled Chestnut with 00:48 remaining in regulation, but were unable to force overtime.
Gustie goaltender Josh Swartout compiled 21 saves, including 10 in the second period, as his season record improved to 5-4-0. Tyler Chestnut stopped 18 shots in the loss. Both teams were 1-for-5 on the power play with each squad being called for seven penalties.
The series sweep was the first for Gustavus since the 1983-84 season when the Gusties defeated the Tommies 9-6 and 4-3 in overtime.
The Gusties face Augsburg in a home-home series next weekend beginning on Friday night in Minneapolis at 7:05 p.m. and wrapping up on Saturday at Don Roberts Ice Rink with the drop of the puck at 7:05 p.m.