Saint John's hockey returns to the ice by hosting Gustavus Adolphus for a 7 p.m. game on Friday, Jan. 5, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The two teams wrap up the weekend series with a 7 p.m. puck-drop on Saturday, Jan. 6, at the Don Roberts Ice Rink in St. Peter.

LIVE COVERAGE
-Friday, Jan. 5: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video
-Saturday, Jan. 6: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (3-8-2, 1-5-0 MIAC) went 0-1-1 against the Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) back on Dec. 9-10 at the HBNHC.

Milwaukee School of Engineering 5, at Saint John's 1 – Dec. 9
The Milwaukee School of Engineering scored four goals on its first eight shots in the first period to take the series opener.

The Raiders took advantage of an offensive-zone penalty on SJU with a power-play goal from Jacob Bosse 3:45 into the game. Gramm McCormack made it 2-0 less than three minutes later (6:12) and Preston Park scored his sixth goal of the season 2:16 after that. A goal from Seth Bernard 12:43 into the opening frame gave MSOE a 4-0 lead and chased junior goaltender Bailey Huber (Mahtomedi, Minn.) from the game.

Jackson Yee padded MSOE's lead 2:15 into the second period and sophomore goaltender Jon Howe (Chanhassen, Minn.) finished with 13 saves. Sophomore goaltender Tom Kuriscak (Stillwater, Minn.) made his collegiate debut and stopped eight shots, including a pair of point-blank attempts on the penalty kill, in a scoreless third period.

Freshman forward Jack Wandmacher (St. Louis Park, Minn.) erased the shutout for SJU with a goal, his fifth of the season, on a sharp-angle shot near the end line 8:45 into the third. 
    
The Johnnies out-shot the Raiders 32-30 and went 0-for-2 on the power play in the loss. 

The four, first-period goals allowed were the most since Jan. 10, 2020: four in a 6-2 loss at Wisconsin-Superior.

t-at Saint John's 1, Milwaukee School of Engineering 1 (OT) – Dec. 10
The two teams ended the 2023 portion of their schedules with a 1-1 tie. Luke Stevens gave MSOE a 1-0 lead with his first goal of the season 9:33 into the game. 

The score remained unchanged until sophomore defenseman Mason Campbell (Rosemount, Minn.) scored the game-tying goal, his second tally of the season and eighth of his career, 3:58 into the third period for SJU. Senior forward Lewis Crosby (Edina, Minn.) took a feed from junior forward Spencer Rudrud (Eden Prairie, Minn.) behind the net and found Campbell alone in the slot.

Howe made 27 saves in the draw. SJU posted a 38-28 advantage in shots but went 0-for-5 on the power play, including a total of 2:26 in overtime.

NEW FACES: The Johnnies added a pair of transfers over the winter break in freshman defenseman Sam Berry (St. Louis Park, Minn.) and sophomore forward Justin Thompson (Woodbury, Minn.). Berry is a 2021 graduate of St. Louis Park High School, where he recorded 75 points (15g/46a) in four seasons for the Orioles. He then recorded 24 points (4g/20a) in 121 games over the last three seasons with the NAHL's Fairbanks Ice Dogs. Thompson is a 2018 graduate of Tartan High School, where he recorded 72 points (34g/38a) in just two seasons for the Titans. He played 27 games during the 2019-20 season for the NAHL's Corpus Christi Ice Rays and 19 for the NAHL's Janesville Jets, which is where he spent the 2020-21 season. In total, Thompson recorded 47 points (13g/34a) in the NAHL over two seasons. He appeared in 10 games for Division l Long Island during the 2021-22 season. 

STAT COMPARISONS
Scoring Offense
4. GAC, 3.00 gpg. (3.08 overall)
7. SJU, 2.33 gpg. (2.15 overall)

Scoring Defense
5. GAC, 2.67 gpg. (2.38 overall)
7. SJU, 3.33 gpg. (2.77 overall)

Power Play
2. GAC, 22.2 percent/6-for-27 (15.4 percent/8-for-52 overall)
7. SJU, 9.5 percent/2-for-21 (8.2 percent/4-for-49 overall)

Penalty Kill
2. SJU, 91.3 percent/21-for-23 (87.5 percent/42-for-48 overall)
6. GAC, 85.0 percent/17-for-20 (84.1 percent/37-for-44 overall)

A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus Adolphus (7-4-2, 2-3-1 MIAC) swept Concordia (Wis.) nearly a month ago (Dec. 8-9) by scores of 4-1 and 2-0, respectively. Freshman forward Drew Holt netted a trio of goals and tacked on an assist in the series sweep. Senior goaltender Jackson Hjelle earned MIAC Men's Hockey Defensive Athlete of the Week for his performance between the pipes in the 2-0 shutout victory. Hjelle made a career-high 46 saves, including 19 in the third period, for his second shutout in his past three games. Four Gusties have 10 points apiece this season: Holt (5g/5a), freshman forward Grant Ellings (5g/5a), sophomore forward Nate Stone (5g/5a) and junior forward Jack Suchy (6g/4a). Hjelle has spent the majority of time in goal for the Gusties and is 4-2-1 with the two shutouts, a 2.01 GAA and a .921 save percentage (164 saves). 

LAST SEASON'S MEETINGS: SJU swept GAC for the fourth-straight series last season. 

at Saint John's 4, Gustavus Adolphus 1 – Jan. 6 (2023)
Eight Johnnies recorded a point as SJU returned to competition with a 4-1 MIAC win over Gustavus at the HBNHC. The game was the first in nearly a month (Dec. 10) for SJU, which outshot the Gusties by a 42-18 margin in the victory.

Following a scoreless first period, Gustavus was awarded a five-minute power play following a major penalty for kneeing 1:54 into the second. The Johnnies, however, matched the Gusties' two shots on goal during the man advantage, including a shorthanded goal from junior forward Matt DeRosa (Alpharetta, Ga.) on a two-on-1 rush from Campbell with 15 seconds left in GAC's power play. The shorthanded goal was SJU's fourth of the season, as well as DeRosa's first tally of the season and fifth of his collegiate career.

Campbell made it 2-0 with a shot from the blue line, through traffic, for his third goal of the season with 9:19 left in the second period and forward Josh Maucieri '23 extended SJU's lead with his third goal of the season 12:25 into the third.

Kylar Fenton erased the shutout for GAC on a tic-tac-toe goal with 4:19 remaining, but captain Auggie Moore '23 ended the game's scoring with an empty-net goal – his 80th career point – just before the horn sounded. Huber made 17 saves to improve to 5-2-2 on the year.

Saint John's 4, at Gustavus Adolphus 0 – Jan. 7 (2023)
SJU completed the weekend sweep with a 4-0 shutout the following night in St. Peter. Campbell scored the game's first two goals in the second period and Huber made 12 saves to record his first collegiate shutout for SJU, which outshot the Gusties by a 31-12 margin. 

Just like the 4-1 home win, SJU found the scoreboard first with a shorthanded goal in the second period – this time from Campbell – unassisted with 6:53 left in the frame. Campbell, who tallied an even-strength goal and an assist Friday night, gave the Johnnies a two-goal lead 4:04 later when he put away a rebound for his fifth goal of the season.

Crosby extended the margin with his fifth goal of the year and 40th point as a Johnnie 3:58 into the third period and DeRosa ended the game's scoring with his second goal of the weekend on a nice one-timer from classmate Garrett Smith (Eden Prairie, Minn.) with 5:05 remaining.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU has won nine in a row against Gustavus – a 13-2-2 record over the last 17 meetings – and leads the series with a 43-13-9 record since 1995. The Johnnies are 26-5-3 against the Gusties at home since the 1992-93 season, including a 24-4-3 mark in the last 31 games at the HBNHC.