Saint John's hockey returns to the ice with a home-and-home series against Gustavus Adolphus, beginning with a 7 p.m. game on Friday, Jan. 6, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The two teams complete the weekend series at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, in St. Peter.

LIVE COVERAGE
-Friday, Jan. 6: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video
-Saturday, Jan. 7: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

TICKET INFORMATION: Fans wishing to attend SJU hockey's home games at the HBNHC in St. Cloud must purchase tickets online. The ticket booths will not be open due to staffing. – Purchase Online Tickets

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (6-5-2, 3-2-1 MIAC) picked up a win and a tie in a pair of non-conference games against Concordia (Wis.) and Lawrence (Wis.) back on Dec. 9and 10, respectively.

at Saint John's 6, Concordia, Wis. 0 (Dec. 9)
Four seniors scored a goal on Senior Night as Saint John's blanked Concordia (Wis.) 6-0 on Dec. 9 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
 
Senior forward Nick Michel (Waconia, Minn.) totaled five points (1g/4a), senior captain Auggie Moore (Edina, Minn.) added four points with a hat trick and freshman goaltender Jon Howe (Chanhassen, Minn.) stopped all 15 shots faced for his first collegiate shutout. The four-point game was the fifth of Moore's career and the multi-goal game was his seventh. 
 
The Johnnies outshot the Falcons by a 46-15 margin, including a 33-9 advantage through the first two periods, and went 3-for-3 on the power play in the victory.

Moore took advantage of a loose puck in the crease for his first goal of the game, on an early power play 1:09 into the contest, and put home a pretty one-timer in front from Michel three minutes later. The senior captain completed his first collegiate hat trick at the 13:32 mark of the first period. Michel served as the primary assist on all three of Moore's goals.
  
Senior forward Henry Enebak (Lakeville, Minn.) scored his second goal of the season 30 seconds into the second period and Michel made it 5-0 with a power-play goal, his sixth of the season and 10th overall, 3:09 later.
 
Senior defenseman Joe Raleigh (Lake Elmo, Minn.) ended the scoring with his first collegiate goal, on the power play, with 1:55 remaining in regulation. Michel collected his fourth primary assist of the night and freshman defenseman Mason Campbell (Rosemount, Minn.) picked up his third helper of the game on the scoring play.

t-Saint John's 2, Lawrence 2 (Dec. 10 in Rosemount)
SJU and Lawrence played to a 2-2 tie the last time the Johnnies competed on Dec. 10 at Rosemount Ice Arena.
 
Following a scoreless first period – a frame in which Lawrence outshot SJU 14-4 – Jayden Jensen gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded goal 5:15 into the second.
 
The rest of the period, however, belonged to SJU. Michel tied the game with his team-leading 11th goal of the season, a rebound off his own blocked shot, at the 12:19 mark of the second period. Junior defenseman Jack Olsen (Lakeville, Minn.) put SJU ahead with a power-play goal, his first tally of the season and second of his career, with 18 seconds left in the frame. The Johnnies posted tipped the shot differential in their favor, 13-7, in the period.
 
The third period was one of interesting penalties. Freshman defenseman Zach Enebak (Lakeville, Minn.) was checked high into the boards and it looked as if SJU would receive a power play, but Enebak was called for embellishment. Junior forward Lewis Crosby (Edina, Minn.) was whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct 1:32 later, for allegedly spraying the LU goaltender, and Kyle Gierman made the power play count by tying the game at 2-2 with 11:46 remaining.
 
The Vikings' Cory Checco was called for a five-minute major (charging) with 9:25 remaining, but the Johnnies mustered only four shots on goal during the man advantage. SJU finished 1-for-5 on the power play to LU's 1-for-4 showing.
 
Sophomore goaltender Bailey Huber (Mahtomedi, Minn.) made 29 saves in the tie as SJU finished with a 32-31 edge in shots.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Michel collected his second MIAC Men's Hockey Offensive Player of the Week honor of the season back on Dec. 12 for his six-point (2g/4a) performance in the Johnnies' last two games. Michel leads SJU in goals (11) and points (18) in 12 games played this season. Nationally, Michel is second in NCAA Division III with six power-play goals and is third in goals per game (0.92).

FAST HAT TRICK: Moore's first-period hat trick in 13:32 against Concordia back on Dec. 9 was the fastest by a Johnnie since Gabriel Harren '10 accomplished the feat in the first 10:44 of SJU's 5-1 win over Gustavus Adolphus on Dec. 12, 2007, at the HBNHC. Brian Wachtler '94 scored a hat trick in the game's first 6:53 vs. St. Olaf on Nov. 4, 1993, while Craig Herr '91 did so in 4:43 vs. Iowa State on Nov. 23, 1991 (see below). Both found the net in the second period for a four-goal game in each instance. 
 
Craig Herr '91 vs. Iowa State (11/23/91)
-0:41 into 1st period (even)
-2:07 into 1st period (power play)
-4:43 into 1st period (power play)
-9:53 into 2nd period (power play)

Brian Wachtler '94 vs. St. Olaf (12/4/93)
-2:01 into 1st period (power play)
-5:15 into 1st period (even)
-6:53 into 1st period (power play)
-6:36 into 2nd period (even)

Gabriel Harren '09 vs. Gustavus (12/12/07)
-7:34 into 1st period (even)
-10:18 into 1st period (shorthanded)
-10:44 into 1st period (even)

Auggie Moore vs. Concordia, Wis. (12/9/22)
-1:09 into 1st period (power play)
-4:09 into 1st period (even)
-13:32 into 1st period (even)

STAT COMPARISONS: The Johnnies hold the statistical edge in three of the four major categories.

Scoring Offense
-SJU: 3.15 gpg. 
-GAC: 2.15 gpg.

GAA
-SJU: 2.08
-GAC: 3.72

Power Play
-SJU: 33.3 percent (19-57) *No. 2 in Division III
-GAC: 5.6 percent (2-36)

Penalty Kill
-GAC: 87.0 percent (40-46)
-SJU: 76.7 percent (33-43)

A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus Adolphus (2-9-2, 0-5-1 MIAC) split its pair of games last weekend (Dec. 29-30) at Wisconsin-Superior. The Gusties posted a 3-1 win over the host Yellowjackets in the first game, before they fell to Marian (Wis.) the following day by a score of 5-3. The Sabres broke a 2-2 stalemate in the third period with three-straight goals. Freshman forward Nate Stone leads the team in points with seven (3g/4a), while sophomore forward Jac Triemert leads the team in goals (5) and sophomore forward Joey Gimberlin boasts a team-best six assists. Both are next behind Stone with six points apiece. Junior Jackson Hjelle leads a contingent of three goaltenders with a 2.94 GAA and a .903 save percentage (232 saves) in 11 games.

LAST SEASON: SJU swept the season series last year with a pair of wins.

at Saint John's 5, Gustavus 1 (Dec. 2, 2021)
SJU scored the game's final four goals in a 5-1 win over Gustavus last Dec. 2 (2021) at the HBNHC. The Johnnies out-shot the Gusties 46-35, including a 34-24 margin after the first period, and broke a 1-1 tie with three goals in a 3:46 span in the second period.
 
Junior forward Max Borst (Edina, Minn.) started the game's scoring with a rebound goal, his third tally of the season, 3:34 into the contest.
 
Tyler Ebner tied the game for Gustavus with a wraparound goal 5:01 into the second period, but SJU answered with the three-goal outburst in the second half of the frame. Sophomore forward Spencer Rudrud (Eden Prairie, Minn.) gave the lead back to SJU with his second goal of the season at the 12:22 mark. Moore followed with his third goal 3:29 later and Michel made it 4-1 with an unassisted tally, his fifth of the season, 17 seconds after that.
 
Junior forward Josh Maucieri (Crosby, Minn.) ended the scoring with a breakaway goal, his first as a Johnnie, halfway through the third period. Goaltender Mac Berglove '22 tied a season high with 34 saves in the victory. 

Saint John's 4, at Gustavus 1 (Dec. 3, 2021)
The Johnnies completed the weekend sweep of Gustavus with a 4-1 road win - the team's fourth consecutive victory – last Dec. 4 (2021) in St. Peter. SJU tallied a pair of goals 32 seconds apart in an over-powering first period. The visitors out-shot the Gusties 14-2 in the opening stanza and both of GAC's shots on goal occurred in the game's first 34 seconds.
 
Michel put SJU on the scoreboard with his team-leading sixth goal - and 10th point of the season - with 4:55 left in the first period. He also had a goal disallowed due to a high stick with 9:46 remaining in regulation.
 
Rudrud made it 2-0 with his third collegiate goal, and second of the series, 32 seconds later. Maucieri extended the visitors' lead to 3-0, his second goal in as many games, with 7:17 left in the second period.
 
Jack Westlund ended the shutout for GAC with a power-play goal, the Gusties' first of the season (1-for-23), 6:24 into the third period. The two-goal deficit did not last long, however, as Moore gave the three-goal margin back to the Johnnies with his 20th career goal 40 seconds later. Berglove made 19 saves to improve to 6-2-1 on the year.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies have either defeated or tied the Gusties in 50 of the last 63 meetings - a 41-13-9 record - and have a 25-5-3 home record since the 1992-93 season (a 23-4-3 record in the last 30 games at the HBNHC). SJU has won each of the last seven meetings overall and is 11-2-2 in the last 15.