Saint John's hockey plays host to Saint Mary's at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 18, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center (HBNHC) in St. Cloud and ends the season against Hamline at 7 p.m. Friday, March 19, at the TRIA Rink in St. Paul.

LIVE COVERAGE
-Thursday vs. Saint Mary's: Radio (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

-Friday at Hamline: Radio (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (4-2-2, 2-0-1 MIAC) and St. Thomas played to a 3-3, non-conference tie last night (March 16) at the HBNHC in St. Cloud. The game was the last for UST at the NCAA Division III level.

SJU showed some rust in the first period - its first game action since Feb. 26 (a 2-2 tie at UST) - as the Tommies registered a 15-6 shot advantage. Zac Risteau gave the visitors a 1-0 lead with his first goal of the season 9:42 into the game.

The Johnnies, however, flipped the script in the second period with an 18-8 advantage on goal. SJU recorded the period's first nine shots on net (13 of the first 14) and also rang one off the pipe. The seventh shot, a goal from senior forward Ryan Kero (Hermantown, Minn.), tied the game at 1-1 7:34 into the second. The tally was Kero's third of the season and his 50th career point (19g/31a).

Sophomore forward Auggie Moore (Edina, Minn.) played a puck behind the net to the goal line and found a hard-charging Jack Johnson (Bemidji, Minn.) in the slot for a pretty one-timer to give SJU the lead with 1:01 left in the second period.

Senior defenseman Cole Souto (Yorba Linda, Calif.) then made it 3-1 with his first goal of the season - and first point since Feb. 16, 2019, at Gustavus Adolphus - 53 seconds into the third period.

The Tommies took advantage of the game's final two penalties with a pair of power-play goals late in the game. Risteau made it a one-goal game with his second of the night at the 12:52 mark and Grant Loven tied the contest with 3:26 remaining. UST finished 2-for-4 on the man advantage to the Johnnies' 0-for-4 showing.

Both teams generated scoring opportunities during the five-minute, 3-on-3 overtime but neither lit the lamp. UST had a 2-on-0 breakaway with 3:40 left in the extra session but failed to conjure a shot on goal.

Senior Mac Berglove (Elk River, Minn.) made 33 saves in the tie.

SJU ended the rivalry with a 6-5-6 record against UST over the last 17 meetings.

A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary's (5-5, 3-1 MIAC) jumped out to a 2-0, first-period lead but surrendered three unanswered goals in the second period in a 3-2 non-conference loss at St. Olaf last night (March 16). Sophomore forward Sam Hanson scored for the third consecutive game, 4:35 in, and senior forward Tommy Stang added the other tally for SMU with 50 seconds left in the opening frame.

Junior forward Ryan Stoynich (3g/9a) and freshman forward Bud Winter (6g/6a) lead the Cardinals with 12 points apiece. Senior goaltender Al Rogers is 4-3 with a 3.55 GAA and a .897 save percentage (218 saves). SMU is currently second in the MIAC on the power play (33.3 percent, 9-for-27) and seventh on the penalty kill (69.0 percent, 20-for-29).

LAST SEASON: The Johnnies swept Saint Mary's, 3-1 and 6-5, last February (2020) in Winona to win the MIAC regular-season championship.

Saint John's 3, at Saint Mary's 1
The Johnnies scored three unanswered goals in the third period to secure the 3-1 win on Feb. 21 (2020).

After a scoreless first period, Dylan Robertson gave Saint Mary's a 1-0 lead on the power play 6:23 into the second. SJU tied the game early in the third when sophomore forward Jack Johnson (Bemidji, Minn.) scored on the power play, his sixth tally of the season, 3:14 in. 

Sophomore forward Auggie Moore (Edina, Minn.) took care of the rest with a pair of goals, his ninth and 10th of the season, to seal the victory. He drew a hooking penalty on a breakaway, put away the ensuing penalty shot with 11:25 remaining and added some insurance at the 17:11 mark. 

Goaltender Andrew Lindgren '20 made 24 saves on the evening as the Johnnies and Cardinals recorded 25 shots each on the night. 

Saint John's 6, at Saint Mary's 5
SJU came back from a three-goal deficit to top Saint Mary's 6-5 and win the 2020 MIAC regular-season title. 

Moore scored what proved to be the game-winning goal on a breakaway with 3:47 to play. He ended the weekend with seven points (3g/4a), including both game-winning goals, in the two-game sweep. Both Moore and Johnson recorded three assists in the victory.

SMU scored a pair of goals, on four shots, in the game's first six minutes and gained a 3-0 lead 7:05 into the second period.

Senior defenseman Travis Brown (Otsego, Minn.) put SJU on the scoreboard with a power-play goal (4-on-3), his seventh tally of the season, 2:17 later (9:22 mark). The Cardinals, however, answered to make it 4-1 less than two minutes after.

The Johnnies upped the offensive pressure for the remainder of the second period and it resulted in three SMU penalties and a pair of power-play goals. With an extra attacker on the ice (6-on-4), due to a delayed penalty on SMU, forward Brady Heppner '20 lit the lamp 1:29 later for his eighth goal of the season and 42nd of his career. The Johnnies did not score on the ensuing power play and trailed 4-3 entering the third period.

SJU's freshman line of Johnson, Moore and Dan Wieber (St. Joseph, Minn.) was responsible for all three third-period goals. Johnson tied the game 2:30 into the third period and found Wieber from behind the net for the go-ahead tally 2:45 later. 

A boarding penalty on Johnson, however, with 6:45 remaining gave SMU 1:18 of a 5-on-3 power play. Kyle Meeh took advantage of the opportunity and scored his second goal of the game, and team-leading 13th of the season, to re-tie the contest at 5-5 with six minutes to play.

Lindgren made 28 saves in the win. The Johnnies scored a season-high three power-play goals (3-for-9) in the game, while the Cardinals went 2-for-5. Half (16 of 32) of SJU's shots on goal were recorded during a man advantage.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 56-29-5 against the Cardinals since the 1981-82 season, including a 19-6-2 record under the direction of head coach Doug Schueller (since the 2008-09 season). SJU has won 29 of the last 39 meetings overall (29-8-2 record), but is only 4-5-1 in the last 10 meetings at the HBNHC.

A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Hamline (1-3, 1-1 MIAC) snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-2 home victory over Gustavus Adolphus its last time out on Feb. 27. The Pipers host SJU Friday before visiting St. Olaf Saturday for the season finale. Freshman forward Joe Collins scored the game-winning, even-strength goal against the Gusties with 1:46 remaining. Collins (2g/1a), senior forward Zak Lambrecht (1g/2a) and junior forward Brendan Sheehan (1g/2a) lead the team with three points apiece. The Pipers are 1-for-19 (.053) on the power play and 12-for-15 (.800) on the penalty kill.

BACK IN 2019-20: Saint John's and Hamline played to a pair of ties during the 2019-20 season.

t-at Saint John's 3, Hamline 3 (SJU, 1-0)
SJU out-shot Hamline 51-21 on goal (80-39 overall) in a 3-3 tie back on Dec. 10 (2019) in St. Cloud. Brown scored 15 seconds into the extra frame to give the Johnnies the extra point in the conference standings. Senior forward Ryan Kero (Hermantown, Minn.) won the faceoff at the left circle back to Brown, who ripped a shot to the top-right corner of the net. 

The Johnnies clawed back from a 3-1 first-period deficit with a pair of goals in the second period to force overtime, the team's third consecutive. SJU out-shot Hamline by a 32-9 margin after the first period. Heppner tied it at 3-3 when he chipped a loose puck in the blue paint to the back of the net with 7:16 left in the second.

HU bounced back with a pair of goals 2:04 apart late in the first period, a wraparound tally from Jackson Bond at the 15:14 mark and Riley Meyer with 2:42 remaining, to gain a 3-1 lead.

With 51 shots on goal, SJU had plenty of other scoring chances in the contest. HU goaltender Sam Nelson denied the Johnnies on three breakaways, captain Adam Orn '20 hit the pipe during a second-period power play and Johnson blasted the iron with 6:10 remaining in the game. Lindgren made 18 saves in the tie.

t-Saint John's 1, at Hamline 1 (HU, 1-0)
SJU returned to conference play with a 1-1 tie at Hamline last Jan. 17 (2020) in St. Paul. HU won the sudden-death shootout in the second round to earn the extra point in the MIAC standings. The game was originally scheduled for an 8 p.m. start, but was moved up to 6 p.m. and then again to 4 p.m. due to a winter storm.

Johnson broke the scoreless tie for SJU with a power-play goal 53 seconds into the third period. Jeron Hirschfeld, however, tied the game on breakaway goal - after leaving the penalty box - 3:55 later.

Berglove made 20 saves in the tie. He denied HU's Jackson Bond to start the shootout and Heppner was stopped on the other end of the ice. Bailey Martin scored what proved to be the deciding goal to start the second round and the Pipers' Sam Nelson made a save on Kyle Wagner's '20 attempt to clinch the shootout win.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 54-27-7 against the Pipers since the 1981-82 season, including wins in 13 of the last 23 meetings overall (13-5-4 record). SJU, however, is 1-2-1 in the last four meetings on HU's home ice.