SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s hockey team will travel to St. Cloud tonight to take on Saint John’s for the first contest in its weekend series with a start time of 7 p.m. The Gusties (7-15-1, 4-9-1 MIAC) and Johnnies (9-9-5, 7-4-3 MIAC) will play game two of the series Saturday in Saint Peter at 7:05 p.m.
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Saturday: Watch Live | Live Stats
Playoff Implications
The Gusties can clinch a playoff berth and the No. 5 seed with two wins and neither Hamline nor Saint Mary’s eclipsing 19 points in the standings. Saint Mary’s currently stands at 18 points so it must lose its final two games and Hamline is at 14 so they must lose one of their final two.
The Series
Tonight’s matchup marks the 123rd all-time matchup between the two teams with Gustavus currently holding a 64-48-10 advantage. The last time the two teams met, the Johnnies came away with a 2-1 victory on Feb. 17, 2018 in St. Cloud.
Scouting the Gusties
The Gusties are most recently coming off a 1-0 loss to Concordia on Saturday. Through 23 games the Gusties lead the MIAC in shots per game (33.9) and have allowed a league-low nine power play goals. Gustavus allows just 2.19 goals per contest which is third in the league, and its penalty kill percentage of 88.0 (66-75) ranks second. The Gusties have struggled to find the back of the net at times, averaging 2.09 goals per game which ranks sixth in the conference, and they have been shutout a MIAC-leading six times. Evan Erickson has been the teams leading scorer with 17 points (7g, 10a) while Caleb Anderson is right behind him with 14 (4g, 10a). Chris Amsden and Robbie Goor have both started at least ten games in net, combining for a save percentage of .920.
Scouting the Johnnies
The Johnnies come into the contest most recently tying St. Thomas Thursday 2-2 and winning the shootout for the extra point before defeating the Tommies 4-1 on Friday to help secure themselves a playoff spot. Saint John’s has been tough all-around this season averaging 2.82 goals per game and allowing just 2.14, marks which rank fourth and first in the MIAC respectively. The Johnnies special teams have been solid as well as they rank fourth fourth in both power play percentage (18.4) and penalty kill percentage (85.4). Saint John’s is led by Brady Hepner (13g, 8a) and Kyle Wagner (4g, 17a) who have both amassed 21 points. Andrew Lindgren, who is coming off MIAC Men’s Hockey Athlete of the Week honors, has started 17 games in net for the Johnnies making 447 saves while allowing 34 goals for a save percentage of .929.