Saint John's hockey takes on Hamline at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26, at the TRIA Rink in St. Paul. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

NON-CONFERENCE GAME: The MIAC announced several changes to its COVID-19 protocols Jan. 13, including:

1) All conference games unable to be played as scheduled due to COVID-19-impacted rosters will be declared no-contests instead of forfeits and will not be rescheduled in order to avoid compacting the schedule with multiple games in a limited amount of days. 

2) 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. 

Therefore, SJU and Hamline rescheduled the Jan. 14-15 series as non-conference games on Wednesday (in St. Paul) and Feb. 7 (in St. Cloud).

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (10-5-2, 5-2-1 MIAC) snapped its power-play drought and recorded its seventh five-goal game of the season in a 5-2 victory over Northland (Wis.) last night (Jan. 24) at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The Johnnies ended a 0-for-24 skid on the power play (since Dec. 10 at Concordia, Wis.) by scoring two goals on their first two opportunities on the man advantage and finished 2-for-4 on the night.

Junior forward Jack Johnson (Bemidji, Minn.) collected three assists, while a pair of classmates from Edina, captain Auggie Moore (2g/1a) and defenseman Peter Tabor (1g/2a), totaled three points apiece. The multi-point game was Moore's fourth of the season and 13th of his career (sixth of three points or more).

Moore opened the game's scoring with his sixth goal of the season 4:28 into the game and junior forward Henry Enebak (Lakeville, Minn.) made it 2-0 with his first tally of the season, on the power play, at the 16-minute mark. 

Ben Varga cut the Lumberjacks' deficit in half 57 seconds later and Parker Severson tied the game 2:36 into the second period.

The Johnnies' power play answered the bell for the go-ahead goal, Moore's second of the night, at the 11:12 mark of the second period.

Freshman forward Spencer Rudrud (Eden Prairie, Minn.) then found classmate Jackson Sabo (Rosemount, Minn.) all alone in front with 1.5 seconds remaining in the second period to give SJU a 4-2 lead. The goal was Sabo's first as a Johnnie and fourth point in his third game.

Tabor ended the scoring with his second goal of the season, 4-on-4, with 8:44 remaining in the contest.

Senior goaltender Michael Magnuson (Sunfish Lake, Minn.) made his fourth start of the season and stopped 17 shots to even his record at 2-2. SJU out-shot LC by a 36-19 margin, including 27-10 through the first two period.

STAT COMPARISONS
Scoring Offense
-SJU, 3.35 gpg.
-HU, 1.92 gpg.

GAA
-SJU, 2.08
-HU, 3.44

Power Play
-SJU, 9.2 percent (7-for-76)
-HU, 3.8 percent (2-for-52)

Penalty Kill
-HU, 81.5 percent (44-for-54)
-SJU, 80.8 percent (42-for-52)

A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Hamline (3-9-1, 1-5-0 MIAC) snapped a six-game winless streak (0-5-1 record) with its first conference win of the season, 2-1 vs. Saint Mary's, Saturday night (Jan. 22) in St. Paul. Freshman forward Carson Simon leads the team in assists (4) and points (6), while three Pipers have three goals each: junior forward Jackson Bond, sophomore forward Joe Collins and sophomore forward Bailey Sommers. Junior netminder Kevin Lake is 3-8 with a 3.39 GAA and a .893 save percentage (300 saves).

LAST WINTER: SJU ended the 2020-21 season with a 3-2 win, the 150th of head coach Doug Schueller's career, over Hamline back on March 19 in St. Paul.

Defenseman Travis Brown '21 scored two goals, including what proved to be the game-winner in the third period, and senior goaltender Mac Berglove (Elk River, Minn.) made 19 saves. The game was the third in four days for the Johnnies and the first for Hamline since Feb. 27 (a 3-2 home win over Gustavus Adolphus).

The two teams broke out of a scoreless tie with two goals apiece in the second period. HU found the scoreboard first on a goal from Austin Wisely, during a 3-on-2 rush, 4:45 into the second.

Junior forward Auggie Moore (Edina, Minn.) tied the game with his fifth goal of the season with 11:54 left in the period, but HU regained the lead with a power-play goal from Kyle Wendorf 27 seconds later (12 seconds into the man advantage). The power-play tally was the Pipers' second in 22 chances this season (9.0 percent).

SJU received its first power play thanks to a five-minute major with 9:15 left in the second, but the Johnnies were whistled for an offensive-zone penalty 23 seconds later. The visitors successfully killed off the two-minute infraction and returned to the man advantage, where Brown tied the game on a one-timer from the left faceoff circle with 5:01 left in the second.

Brown ripped home a faceoff win, once again near the left faceoff circle, to give SJU its first lead of the game 3:28 into the third period. The tally was his fifth of the season and 16th of his career.

Moore nearly made it 4-2 but was denied on a shorthanded breakaway with 12:01 left. He ended the season with a five-game point streak.

The Pipers went 1-for-6 on the power play, to the Johnnies' 1-for-3 showing (in which two of the three opportunities came from the same five-minute major penalty). SJU out-shot HU, 36-21.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 55-27-7 against the Pipers since the 1981-82 season, including wins in 14 of the last 24 meetings overall (14-5-4 record). SJU is 5-2-2 in the last nine meetings on HU's home ice.