Saint John's hockey travels to No. 6/7 Augsburg for the MIAC Playoff Championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 2, at the Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video



A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (12-9-5, 9-4-3 MIAC) advanced to the MIAC Playoff Championship game with a 4-1 semifinal win over St. Thomas last Saturday (Feb. 23) at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.

Senior defenseman Sean Lang (Apple Valley, Minn.) and senior forward Evan Okeley (Carmel, Ind.) scored two goals apiece, one each on the power play (2-for-5), and junior goaltender Andrew Lindgren (Minneapolis, Minn.) made 39 saves in the win.

Lang opened the scoring with a blast from the point, on the power play, 8:01 into the game. He made it 2-0 with a deflected shot trickled to him on the back door 8:28 into the second period. 

Okeley extended the Johnnies' lead to 3-0 when he deflected a power-play shot from senior forward Matt Colford (Champlin, Minn.) to the back of the net at the 13:08 mark of the second. Colford and sophomore forward Ryan Kero (Hermantown, Minn.) collected two assists each on the afternoon.

Luke Radetic erased the shutout for UST with his 14th goal of the season, unassisted, with 3:34 left in the second frame. Okeley ended the scoring with a rebound of his own initial shot 9:38 into the third period. The Tommies out-shot SJU 40-21, including a 31-12 advantage after the first period, but went 0-for-5 on the power play.

SHOTS? MEH: The Johnnies are riding a season-high four-game winning streak despite being out-shot 157-98 in the four contests. SJU is out-scoring the opposition 17-7 in the same span and held its opponents to one goal or less in three of the four wins. Lindgren is 3-0 with a shutout, as well as a 1.73 GAA and a .956 save percentage (130 saves) during that stretch.

MULTI-GOAL GAMES: The multi-goal game was the second of Lang's career, in what was his 100th career contest, and first since he registered two goals and an assist Jan. 21, 2017, in a 5-4 win at Bethel. The two-goal game was Okeley's first since he tallied two goals and an assist in a different 5-4 win at Bethel on Dec. 8, 2017.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: Saint John's received one point in the latest D3hockey.com poll released Monday (Feb. 15). Augsburg stayed at No. 6 in the poll and moved up one spot to No. 7 in USCHO.com's rankings released the same day. 

PLAYOFF HISTORY: The Johnnies are making their second consecutive MIAC Playoff appearance, third in the last four seasons and 21st overall (established for the 1985-86 season). SJU is 20-19-3 in MIAC Playoff games. With a win Saturday night, the Johnnies would claim their sixth MIAC Playoff Championship and the conference's automatic bid to their seventh NCAA Tournament. 

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 42-42-2 against Augsburg since the 1984-85 season, including a 15-15 record at the Ed Saugestad Ice Rink. The Johnnies have won four of the last six meetings in Minneapolis, but are 0-4 overall against Augsburg in the MIAC Playoffs. The Auggies edged SJU 5-4 in three overtimes the last time these two teams met in the MIAC Playoff championship game on March 5, 2016, in Minneapolis.

A LOOK AT THE AUGGIES: Augsburg (20-3-3, 13-1-2 MIAC) cruised the conference title game with an 8-1 semifinal win over Saint Mary's last Saturday. The Auggies broke open a 2-1 game early in the second period with three goals in three-and-a-half minutes to take a 7-1 lead into the third. Senior forwards Luke Dietsch (3g) and Alex Rodriguez (2g/1a) had multi-goal games to lead the Auggies in the win. Rodriguez leads the team in goals (20) and points (37), while Dietsch (14g/15a) and senior forward Chandler Madry (10g/19a) have 29 points apiece. Senior goaltender Nick Schmit is 15-2-3 with a 2.05 GAA and .926 save percentage (514 saves). 

EARLIER THIS SEASON: SJU earned two of the six possible points against then-No. 5/6 Augsburg Jan. 31-Feb 1. 

t-at Saint John's 2, Augsburg 2 (OT; SJU, 2-0)
SJU tied Augsburg 2-2 and earned the additional point in the conference standings with a 2-0 win in the shootout Jan. 31 in St. Cloud. Junior forward Kyle Wagner (St. Francis, Minn.) scored the Johnnies' first shootout goal in the second round and senior forward Robb Stautz (Roseville, Minn.) sealed it for SJU in the third.

John O'Connor gave the Auggies a 1-0 lead with 1:57 left in the first period, but Wagner answered 10 seconds later with his fourth goal of the season, and 10th of his career. 

Junior forward Brady Heppner (Crookston, Minn.) gave the Johnnies a 2-1 lead with a textbook one-timer, his team-leading 11th goal of the season, 4:11 into the second period. Wagner took a pass from Heppner up the left wing and found sophomore defenseman Troy Dobbs (Lancaster, N.Y.), who crashed the slot. Dobbs passed up the scoring chance by feeding Heppner for a sharp-angle shot into a wide-open net.

Austin Dollimer tied it back up with an unassisted, wrap-around goal at the 10:08 mark of the second. Lindgren tied a then-career high with 38 saves in the tie.

at Augsburg 5, Saint John's 1
The Auggies out-shot SJU by a 50-17 margin, 40-9 after the first two periods, and went 2-for-7 on the power play. The Johnnies were whistled for 10 penalties totaling 28 minutes.

Rodriguez opened the scoring with his 18th goal of the season at the 11:32 mark of the first period. The Auggies built a 3-0 lead with a pair of goals at the bookends of the second period. Austin Martinsen made it 2-0 with a deflection on a shot from the point 46 seconds into the frame and Jason Krych scored during a 5-on-3 power play with 53 seconds left.

Freshman forward Davis Kirkendall (Hamel, Minn.) erased the shutout for SJU with his fifth goal of the season, and 10th point, 5:01 into the third period. 

The Auggies broke the game open with two goals in the game's final two minutes. Tommy Carey tallied the home team's other power-play goal with 2:02 remaining and Gavin Holland added an empty-netter with 32 seconds left. Lindgren made a career-high 45 saves in the loss.