Saint John's plays host to MIAC-leading St. Olaf for a 7 p.m. game Thursday, Feb. 7, at the National Hockey and Events Center in St. Cloud. The Johnnies then travel to the Northfield Ice Arena for the return game at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8. – Listen Live (Both Games, Real Audio Player) | Live Stats (Friday)
Preview Video:
-Head coach Doug Schueller (1:56)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (10-7-4, 5-4-3 MIAC) hit the pipe five times in a series split against Saint Mary's last weekend in St. Cloud. The Johnnies slid into third place in the MIAC with a 6-0 shutout Friday night. Senior Michael Palmiscno (East Grand Forks, Minn.) put SJU on the scoreboard with a 5-on-3 power-play goal with 2:54 left in the opening period. Sophomore Phil Johnson (Duluth, Minn.) started the four-goal second period with his eighth tally of the season 4:37 into the period. Senior Tobias Linbro (Nykvarn, Sweden) took advantage of an SMU turnover in front of the net for this third goal of the season, unassisted, 9:44 into the second. Junior Justin Hochsprung (Alexandria, Minn.) tallied a pair of shorthanded goals, 1:50 apart, to give SJU a 5-0 lead. Sophomore John Haeg (Lakeville, Minn.) assisted on both goals to become the first Johnnie since Andy Johnson (48 points from 2003-05) to record 20 points or more in each of his first two seasons. Phil Johnson knocked in the rebound of junior Jason Johnson's (Duluth, Minn.) shot-on-goal 1:53 into the third period to record his seventh point (3g/4a) in his last two games. Freshman Saxton Soley (Elk Mound, Wis.) made 23 saves to earn his first collegiate shutout, the first for SJU since Adam Andersson made 18 saves in the 4-0 shutout at Saint Mary's on Feb. 13, 2010.
Saint Mary's scored the game-winner, shorthanded, with 1:30 left in overtime to defeat Saint John's 2-1 Saturday afternoon. The Johnnies out-shot SMU 33-29 in the game and hit the post twice. A.J. Mueller took advantage of an SJU turnover in its own end and fed Bobby Thompson all alone in front for the Cardinals' game-winning tally. The play followed a number of great scoring chances for the Johnnies, who earned a 6-0 win the previous night. Senior Jascha Pettit (Wadena, Minn.) ripped a wrister off SMU goaltender Jason Horstman and the loose puck trickled inches from the goal line. Following a scoreless first period, Phil Johnson extended his point streak to five games with his 10th goal of the season, on the power play, 9:24 into the second. Nick Gualano tied the game at 1-1 for SMU with 3:46 left in the second period. Soley made 27 saves to fall to 9-4-1 on the season. Horstman made 32 saves to earn the win in net for SMU, his third start of the season. He entered the game with a 5.70 GAA and a .843 save percentage.
SHOWDOWN BETWEEN THE PIPES: This week's series features two of the top goaltenders in the MIAC. Soley leads the conference (MIAC games only) with a 1.37 GAA and is second in save percentage (.945), while the Oles' Henrik Wood boasts the league's top save percentage (.951) and is second with a 1.50 GAA.
MATCHUP AT THE TOP: Much like the goaltenders, this week's series features conference leaders among a number of team statistical categories (conference games only). STO currently leads the conference with an average of 3.67 goals per game, while SJU is second in scoring defense at 1.83 goals allowed per game. The Oles' power play is second at 21.4 percent (9-for-42) and the Johnnies' penalty kill leads the MIAC at 97.6 percent (41-for-42).
POINTS APLENTY: Sophomore Phil Johnson (Duluth, Minn.) followed last week's five-point weekend with four points (3g/1a) in the series split with Saint Mary's Feb. 1-2, extending his point streak to five games (5g/5a). He assisted on the game-winner, on the power play, and added a pair of even-strength goals in Friday's 6-0 win. Johnson then tallied the game's first goal, on the power play, in Saturday's 2-1 overtime loss. He currently leads the team in goals (10) and is tied for second in points (16). The Johnnies are 12-4-2 when Johnson registers a point over the last two seasons, including a 7-1-1 record in 2012-13.
A LOOK AT THE OLES: St. Olaf (10-9-2, 9-3-0 MIAC) saw its six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1 record) come to an end with a 2-1 loss at Augsburg Feb. 2. Junior twins Jeff (15g/8a) and Kevin (6g/13a) Harris lead the team offensively, with junior Dan Cecka, a transfer from Wisconsin-Stout, wedged between them on the stat sheet with 21 points (8g/13a). The Oles received votes in both the USCHO.com and D3hockey.com top-15 polls this week and are 4-3 in games decided by one goal this season.
LAST SEASON'S MEETINGS: The Johnnies and Oles split last season's series, with each team winning on the other's home ice. The Johnnies jumped out to a 3-0 lead and added three unanswered goals to earn a 6-3 win on Feb. 10 in Northfield. Twelve different players tallied a point for SJU. Sophomore Wally Cossette (Maple Grove, Minn.) put SJU on the scoreboard with his fourth goal of the year 5:36 into the game. Linbro extended the lead to 2-0 with his second goal of the season with 4:46 left in the opening frame. Senior Joe Harren (Warroad, Minn.) made it 3-0 in favor of the Johnnies 6:44 into the second period before Brian Hickey erased the shutout for St. Olaf at the 15:00 mark of the second, and Ross Trousdale cut it to 3-2 with only 45 seconds expired in the third period. Jeff Harris tied it at 3-3 with a power-play goal 3:29 into the third. Pettit (Wadena, Minn.) broke the tie with his team-leading 10th goal of the season, what proved to be the game-winning tally, 4:02 later. Sophomore Josh Gaughan (Buffalo, Minn.) padded the Johnnies' lead with his eighth goal of the year with 1:45 remaining. Hochsprung ended the scoring with an empty-net goal with nine seconds left. Senior J.D. Wells (Anoka, Minn.) made 21 saves to remain undefeated with a 6-0 record between the pipes this season. Ben Leis made 16 stops for the Oles in the loss. Leis entered the game second in the conference (MIAC games only) in save percentage (.932) and third in GAA (2.08).
St. Olaf rejoined Saint John's in second place with a 2-1 win on Feb. 11 in St. Cloud. Following a scoreless first period, Raskob gave the Oles a 1-0 lead 8:38 into the second frame. Harren tied the contest at 1-1 with his seventh goal of the season 12:34 into the third period. Peter Rohn tallied the game-winner 10 seconds into a power play 2:11 later. The Johnnies outshot St. Olaf 30-24 in the game and held a 39-22 advantage on faceoffs. SJU, however, was 0-for-4 on the power play (0-for-7 on the weekend). Wells made 22 saves to suffer his first loss of the season (6-1-0 record). Leis made 29 stops for STO.
SERIES HISTORY: SJU leads the series with a 39-22-2 record against St. Olaf since the 1984-85 season, though the Oles have won seven of the last nine meetings. Eight of the Johnnies' last 10 losses to the Oles were decided by one goal.
