Saint John's hockey returns to MIAC play with a 7 p.m. game against Saint Mary's on Thursday, Nov. 18, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The two teams meet in Winona at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20.

GAME COVERAGE
-Thursday, Nov. 18 in St. Cloud: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video
-Saturday, Nov. 20 in Winona: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (2-3-1, 0-1-0 MIAC) went 1-1 in a pair of non-conference matchups last weekend (Nov. 12-13) in Wisconsin. 

at Wisconsin-Stevens Point 4, Saint John's 2
Then-No. 11 Wisconsin-Stevens Point scored two shorthanded goals in the game's final 2:14 to defeat SJU by a 4-2 score Friday night.

The Johnnies were given their sixth power play of the game with 2:52 remaining and the game tied at 2-2, but Connor Scahill scored a controversial, shorthanded goal with 2:14 left. Senior goaltender Michael Magnuson (Sunfish Lake, Minn.) made the save with his glove, but an official ruled that the puck crossed the goal line. The goal judge disagreed, but the officials let the goal stand.

Carter Roo ended the scoring for UWSP Friday with another shorthanded goal, thanks to an empty net, with 1:45 left.

The Pointers gained an early 1-0 lead 30 seconds into the game, but junior forward Brett Meister (White Bear Lake, Minn.) tied it up with his first goal of the season (second of his career) 1:42 later. Stevens Point re-gained the lead with 5:34 left in the opening period.

Magnuson tied a career high with 33 saves in the loss.

Saint John's 3, at Wisconsin-Stout 2 (OT)
SJU ended its power-play drought with two tallies from sophomore forward Nick Michel (Waconia, Minn.), including the game-winner 59 seconds into overtime, in a 3-2 victory Saturday night at Wisconsin-Stout.

SJU killed off a roughing-the-goaltender penalty over the final 1:54 of regulation and the first six seconds of overtime, only to earn a power play for the same offense 10 seconds after the Blue Devils' expired.

Michel drove home a tic-tac-toe one-timer from junior Henry Enebak (Lakeville, Minn.) and senior defenseman Cole Souto (Yorba Linda, Calif.) with 4:01 left in the extra session to end the Johnnies' winless streak at four games. SJU finished 2-for-4 on the man advantage.

Souto gave SJU a 1-0 lead with his first goal of the season (16th of his career) and his 40th career point 12:24 into the first period. The Johnnies saw their scoreless streak on the power play end at 0-for-24 when Michel scored his first PPG of the game 1:14 later.

Landon Lushanko cut the Johnnies' lead in half with a wrister off an offensive-zone faceoff with 9:32 left in the second period and Raphael Gosselin tied the game for Stout 14 seconds into a power play with 13:22 remaining in regulation.

Senior goaltender Mac Berglove (Elk River, Minn.) made 21 saves in the victory.

The Johnnies out-shot the Blue Devils, which went 1-for-6 on the power play, by a 28-23 margin.

STAT COMPARISONS
Scoring Offense
-SMU, 2.14 gpg.
-SJU, 2.00 gpg.

Scoring Defense
-SJU, 2.59 GAA
-SMU, 4.69 GAA

Power Play
-SMU, 20.0 percent (6-for-30)
-SJU, 7.1 percent (2-for-28)

Penalty Kill
-SMU, 84.6 percent (22-for-26)
-SJU, 77.3 percent (17-for-22)

A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary's (1-6, 0-2 MIAC) suffered a two-game sweep, 8-3 and 6-3, last weekend (Nov. 12-13) at Concordia-Moorhead. The two teams combined for eight goals in the second period alone Friday night (a 7-3 lead for CC after two periods), while the Cobbers jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two periods Saturday afternoon. Senior forward Ryan Stoynich leads the team in goals (3) and is tied for first with sophomore forward Matt Hutton in points (5). Hutton is part of a four-main tie for the team lead in assists (3), while also leading SMU in shots (25). Freshmen A.J. Ruskowski (1-4, 4.51 GAA, .868) and Matt Sankner (0-2, 3.96 GAA, .889) have combined for a 4.69 GAA and a .865 save percentage (211 saves) in net so far this season. 

EIGHT MONTHS AGO: The Johnnies scored three goals on special teams in a 5-2 win over Saint Mary's in their home finale the last time these two teams met on March 18 in St. Cloud.

Souto hit the pipe twice and scored two power-play goals, while junior forward Dan Wieber (St. Joseph, Minn.) added a shorthanded tally for the Johnnies 5:13 into the second period. Junior forward Jack Kilroy (Denver, Colo.) made it 2-0 less than five minutes later.

Souto blasted a power-play shot from the point home for his first goal of the night 4:27 into the frame and repeated the routine, during a 5-on-3 advantage, with 3:15 remaining. He rattled a shot off the pipe, his second of the evening, and the ricochet went to Tristyn Sabina '21 on the doorstep for his second career goal halfway through the third period.

Trevor Schroder cut the deficit in half for SMU at the 16:40 mark of the second. Tyson Liverance ended the scoring with a power-play goal for the Cardinals with 1:07 to play.

SJU out-shot SMU 41-29, and Berglove improved to 4-2-2 on the year with the 27-save victory.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 57-29-5 against the Cardinals since the 1981-82 season, including a 20-6-2 record under the direction of head coach Doug Schueller (since 2008-09). SJU has won 30 of the last 40 meetings overall (30-8-2 record), but is only 5-5-1 in the last 11 meetings at the HBNHC.