Saint John's hockey plays host to Gustavus Adolphus for a 7 p.m. puck-drop on Thursday, Dec. 2, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The two teams meet again at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, in St. Peter.

GAME COVERAGE
-Thursday, Dec. 2 (St. Cloud): Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video
-Saturday, Dec. 4 (St. Peter): Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

FREE BUSING FOR CSB/SJU STUDENTS: Thanks to the SJU Senate, a bus will be available for CSB/SJU students for Thursday night's game. The bus departs the SJU Abbey Bell Banner at 6 p.m. (6:05 p.m. pickup from Flynntown) and leaves CSB's HCC at 6:20 p.m.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (4-4-1, 2-2-0 MIAC) evened its season record and earned a series split against Bethel with a 5-1 win last Tuesday (Nov. 23) at the Super Rink in Blaine.

SJU produced the victory Tuesday night thanks to goals from its team captain and four underclassmen, as well as 29 saves from senior goaltender Mac Berglove (Elk River, Minn.).

Freshman forward Cody Carlson (Buffalo, Minn.) gave SJU a quick 1-0 lead with his first collegiate goal 2:26 into the game and sophomore forward Nick Michel (Waconia, Minn.) made it 2-0 with his fourth goal 6:07 into the second period.

Bethel cut its deficit in half with a goal with 26 seconds left in the second period, 19 seconds after SJU killed off a Royal power play. The Royals received a vote in the latest USCHO.com Top 15 poll released yesterday (Nov. 22).

The Johnnies answered with three goals in the third period to seal the win. Sophomore defenseman Max Osborne (Anchorage, Alaska) made it a two-goal game with his second goal of the season 2:10 into the third period.

Sophomore forward Max Borst (Edina, Minn.) tallied his second goal of the season with 9:34 remaining and junior captain Auggie Moore (Edina, Minn.) ended the scoring with an empty-netter - his second straight game with a goal - with 1:54 remaining.

The Johnnies out-shot the Royals, 39-30. Both teams were 0-for-3 on the man advantage.

STAT COMPARISONS
Scoring Offense
-SJU, 2.33 gpg.
-GAC, 2.13 gpg.

GAA
-SJU, 2.28 
-GAC, 2.85

Power Play
-SJU, 9.8 percent (4-for-41)
-GAC, 0.0 percent (0-for-18)

Penalty Kill
-GAC, 92.9 percent (26-for-28)
-SJU, 80.0 percent (24-for-30)

A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus Adolphus (2-5-1, 0-1-1 MIAC) went 0-1-1 against Bethel its last time on the ice back on Nov. 19-20. The Gusties saw their 2-1 lead evaporate with four consecutive BU goals in a 5-2 loss in the series opener and played to a 2-2 tie the following day, though the Royals won the shootout 1-0 for the extra point in the MIAC standings. Senior forward Nick Klishko leads the team in points (2g/4a), while senior forward Connor Clemons (1g/4a) and freshman forward Jack Westlund (3g/2a) are close behind with five apiece. Three goaltenders have combined for a 2.85 GAA and a .890 save percentage (187) in net.

BACK IN 2019-20: SJU swept Gustavus for the second consecutive season, 4-1 and 6-2, the last time these two programs met in 2019-20.

Saint John's 4, at Gustavus Adolphus 1 (Feb. 14, 2020)
SJU scored four unanswered goals to earn a 4-1 road win at Gustavus. Ten different Johnnies recorded a point in the win, which enabled SJU to bolt into second place in the MIAC standings.

Logan Norman gave the Gusties an early 1-0 lead 2:15 into the game.

SJU took control with a pair of goals in the second period. Forward Tanner Dufault '21 tied the game at 1-1 on a nice feed from forward Kyle Wagner '20 near the end-wall, for his third goal of the season 54 seconds into the second period. Moore made it 2-1 on his eighth goal of the season with 10:53 left in the frame.

Senior forward Brady Dahl (Rochester, Minn.) sealed the win with an empty-net goal, his fifth tally of the season, with 1:08 remaining.

at Saint John's 6, Gustavus Adolphus 2 (Feb. 15, 2020)
The Johnnies completed the sweep with a 6-2 home win. Thirteen of the Johnnies' 19 skaters recorded a point and goaltender Andrew Lindgren '20 made a season-high 47 saves in the win, the 30th of his career. The victory, coupled with St. Olaf's 5-3 win at Saint Mary's, clinched the SJU's third consecutive MIAC Playoff appearance, fourth in the last five seasons and 22nd overall (established for the 1985-86 season). 

SJU jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period. Defenseman Adam Orn '20 started Senior Night with a bang, his second goal of the season, 8:42 into the contest. The Johnnies followed that with three goals over a 2:01 span. Dufault tallied his second goal of the weekend with 6:33 left in the opening frame and defenseman Travis Brown '21 ripped home a one-timer 21 seconds later.
    
Caleb Anderson erased the shutout for Gustavus with his MIAC-leading 16th goal of the season 8:57 into the second period. The sway in momentum was short-lived, however, as junior forward Jack Johnson (Bemidji, Minn.) lit the lamp for the fifth time this season 12 seconds later.

The Gusties' Tyler Ebner cut the Johnnies' lead to 5-2 on a power-play goal, with seven seconds left in the man advantage, at the 18:52 mark of the second period. GAC gained another power play 30 seconds later, but two Gusties were called for penalties at the same whistle with four seconds remaining. Despite the limited time, SJU took advantage of the 4-on-3 power play off the faceoff. Wagner won the draw at the right circle to the sideboard, where defenseman Jake Dittel '21 corralled the puck and found forward Ryan Kero '21 alone in the slot for a one-timer and his team-leading 10th goal at the horn (though the referees put 0:00.1 back on the clock after the goal).

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies have either defeated or tied the Gusties in 48 of the last 61 meetings - a 39-13-9 record - and have a 24-5-3 home record since the 1992-93 season (a 22-4-3 record in the last 29 games at the National Hockey Center). SJU has won each of the last five meetings overall and are 9-2-2 in the last 13.