Saint John's hockey returns to competition with a 7:30 p.m. non-conference game against Wisconsin-Superior tonight at Wessman Arena in Superior, Wis. - Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video 

SCHEDULE CHANGES: The Johnnies' conference series against Hamline scheduled for this Friday-Saturday, Jan. 14-15, was canceled due to COVID-19 testing protocols. SJU rescheduled its non-conference game against Wisconsin-Superior, which was postponed last week, to tonight. Tonight's contest will be the first for SJU since Dec. 11.

MIAC CHANGES: The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced several changes to its COVID-19 protocols on Thursday (Jan. 13). Changes were proposed by the conference's Athletic Directors' Council and approved by the Presidents' Council following guidance adjustments from the NCAA and Minnesota Department of Health this month.

Regular-Season Contests and Standings
Effective immediately, all conference games unable to be played as scheduled due to COVID-19-impacted rosters will be declared no-contests instead of forfeits. This policy shall also be retroactive to previous results throughout the 2021-22 MIAC winter sports schedule, as any previous forfeits will be declared no-contests. Therefore, the win awarded to SJU from Jan. 5's road game at Bethel is changed to a no-contest and the Johnnies' conference record is now 8-0 (11-2 overall).

Conference games will not be rescheduled in order to avoid compacting the schedule with multiple games in a limited amount of days, though institutions will reserve the autonomy to schedule or reschedule conference teams in non-conference games (within the NCAA allowed limit of 25) as they see fit.

Conference standings in men's and women's basketball will now shift to be sorted by winning percentage instead of wins, while standings in men's and women's hockey will use a points percentage system (standings points earned divided by standings points possible). 

Teams must play at least 60 percent of their scheduled conference games to be eligible for the regular-season MIAC championship in basketball and hockey.

Conference Playoffs
Due to the already significant number of canceled games due to COVID-19 protocols this winter, MIAC membership also approved the conference basketball and hockey playoffs to become "All-Comers Tournaments" this season. All MIAC basketball and hockey teams will be eligible to participate in the single-elimination playoffs, with specific playoff dates and details to be determined in the coming weeks.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (8-4-1, 4-2-0 MIAC) extended its win streak to six games with a pair of victories back on Dec. 10-11 in Wisconsin.

Saint John's 5, at Concordia (Wis.) 1
The Johnnies scored the game's final four goals and out-shot the Falcons by a 33-20 margin, including a 14-3 advantage in the third period. SJU went 1-for-6 on the power play, including several shots off the pipe, as CUW totaled 43 minutes on 12 penalties. 

Senior forward Braden Altena (St. Cloud, Minn.) started the scoring for SJU with his first goal of the season 5:46 into the game.

Concordia netted the tying goal halfway through the first period, but sophomore forward Lewis Crosby (Edina, Minn.) gave the lead back to the Johnnies on his sixth goal of the season with 3:44 remaining in the opening frame.

In the second period sophomore defenseman Max Osborne (Anchorage, Alaska) took advantage of the power-play and padded the visitors' lead with a goal, his third tally of the season, 6:32 into the second period. Just 1:04 later, junior forward Joe Papa (St. Charles, Ill.) made it 4-1 with his first collegiate goal.

Freshman forward Spencer Rudrud (Eden Prairie, Minn.) ended the scoring with a breakaway goal, his fourth tally of the season, with three seconds remaining.

Senior goaltender Michael Magnuson (Sunfish Lake, Minn.) made 19 saves to earn his second career win, and first of the season, in his fourth collegiate start.

Junior captain Auggie Moore (Edina, Minn.) extended his point streak to seven games with a pair of assists on the night.

Saint John's 5, at Lawrence (Wis.) 0
Sophomore forward Lewis Crosby scored a natural hat trick, his second three-goal game of the season, and senior goaltender Mac Berglove (Elk River, Minn.) made 21 saves for his second shutout of the season and fifth of his career.

The win was the sixth consecutive for SJU, which has scored five goals in four of its last five games. The Johnnies out-shot the Vikings by a 52-21 margin Saturday afternoon.

Senior defenseman Jerome Newhouse (Shorewood, Minn.) cleaned up a loose puck at the side of the net to give SJU a 1-0 lead with 45 seconds left in the first period, 21 seconds after a Johnnie power play expired.

Crosby scored the first of his three straight goals 3:52 into the second period and made it 3-0 three minutes into the third. He completed the hat trick with 14:28 remaining, his team-leading ninth goal of the season and fourth of the weekend.

Moore ended the scoring with a shorthanded, empty-net goal from his own blue line with 1:09 left in regulation. Moore also collected assists on all three Crosby goals and now has a point in each of the Johnnies' last eight games for a total of 13 (5g/8a) during the span.

With the win, SJU improved to 12-0 all-time against Lawrence, including a 5-0 record in Appleton, Wis.

LEADING CAPTAIN: Moore had a hand in six (1g/5a) of the Johnnies' 10 goals scored and posted a +5 in the two wins on Dec. 10-11 in Wisconsin. He tallied a pair of assists, including the lone helper on the game-winning goal, in Friday's 5-1 win at Concordia (Wis.). Moore followed that with four points (1g/3a) - assists on Lewis Crosby's second hat trick of the season - in Saturday's 5-0 shutout at Lawrence (Wis.). 

The junior captain has 11 points (5g/6a), is a +9 during the Johnnies' current six-game win streak and has a point in each of his last seven games (5g/7a).

BIG MAC: Berglove is currently second in the MIAC in GAA (1.37) and save percentage (.944). In NCAA Division III, Berglove is fifth in save percentage (second among those with 200 saves or more) and sixth in GAA (third with 600 minutes played or more). He is currently 24-12-8 with a 2.14 GAA and a .924 save percentage (1,165 saves) in 48 career games.

STREAK STATS: SJU ended the fall semester with a six-game win streak, out-scoring the opposition 27-6, and 11 different Johnnies scored a goal. In addition to the aforementioned Moore, Rudrud totaled nine points (3g/6a) and two game-winning goals in the streak and Osborne posted a +12. Berglove went 5-0 with a shutout, 0.99 GAA and a .958 save percentage (115 saves).

RECEIVING VOTES: The Johnnies received a vote or more in the third consecutive USCHO.com Top 15 poll released Monday (Jan. 10). Augsburg is currently ranked No. 4 nationally.

STAT COMPARISONS
Scoring Offense
-UWS, 3.6 gpg.
-SJU, 3.1 gpg.

GAA
-SJU, 1.82
-UWS, 2.11

Power Play
-UWS, 25.0 percent (14-for-56)
-SJU, 8.5 percent (5-for-59)

Penalty Kill
-UWS, 92.2 percent (47-for-51)
-SJU, 82.9 percent (34-for-41)

A LOOK AT THE YELLOWJACKETS: Wisconsin-Superior (8-4-2, 4-2-1 WIAC) extended its unbeaten streak to five games (3-0-2 record) with a 4-3 overtime win over Concordia last Saturday (Jan. 8) in Moorhead. Sophomore forward Zach Bannister scored the game-winning goal with 4.5 seconds left in the extra frame.

Junior forward Dylan Johnson leads the WIAC in goals (10), power-play goals (5) and points (19), and is tied for the league lead in assists (9). Goaltender Myles Hektor is 5-2-1 with a league-best 1.89 GAA and a .928 save percentage (207 saves). 

TWO WINTERS AGO: A four-goal first period lifted Wisconsin-Superior to a 6-2 win over Saint John's the last time these two teams met on Jan. 10, 2020, in Superior, Wis. Superior built a 4-0 lead thanks to three goals 2:54 apart halfway through the frame and a power-play tally with 55 seconds left. The home team out-shot SJU by an 18-6 margin on net in the opening period. The four first-period goals allowed were the most against SJU since Bethel tallied four in an eventual 7-4 win over the Johnnies on Feb. 17, 2012, in Arden Hills.

The Johnnies cut their deficit in half with a pair of power-play goals early in the second period. Ryan Kero '21 put SJU on the scoreboard with his team-leading eighth goal of the season, and fifth during a four-game span, 1:07 into the second period. Captain Adam Orn '20 made it 4-2 with his first tally of the season 2:24 later.

The Yellowjackets took the momentum back with a pair of goals 1:35 apart later in the second period. 

Andrew Lindgren '20 made 14 saves in the first period before Berglove, who made 27 stops, replaced him for the second and third. UWS finished with a 47-26 advantage in shots on goal.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 4-1 against the Yellowjackets in the last five meetings. The loss in 2020 snapped a four-game win streak (2013-17) for SJU in the series, which followed a stretch of three straight wins for UWS (2007-10).