Box Score

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Saint John's hockey tallied all three goals in the first period and held on for a 3-2 win over Gustavus Adolphus on Friday, Jan. 5, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.

Senior forward Max Borst (Edina, Minn.) gave SJU (4-8-2, 2-5-0 MIAC), which scored two goals on its first three shots on net, a quick 1-0 lead on a shot from the left faceoff circle 39 seconds into the game for his second goal of the season and 16th of his career.

Junior forward Garrett Smith (Eden Prairie, Minn.) deflected a shot from junior defenseman Cooper Anderson (White Bear Lake, Minn.) with 5:16 elapsed for his first tally of the season and second of his career.

Freshman forward Jacob McPartland (Victoria, Minn.) made it 3-0 when he one-timed a short pass from freshman defenseman Parker Gnos (Excelsior, Minn.) for his third goal of the season with 35 seconds remaining in the frame.

Connor Mahony erased the shutout for Gustavus (7-5-2, 2-4-1 MIAC) with a power-play goal halfway (9:54) through the second period and Stanislav Danaev cut the visitors' deficit to one 1:16 later, seconds after the Johnnies failed to record a shot on goal during a 3-on-1 rush.



Sophomore goaltender Jon Howe (Chanhassen, Minn.) made 32 saves, including three with an extra skater on the ice (and the goaltender pulled) during the final minute of play, to even his season record at 3-3-1.

The Gusties posted a 13-6 shot advantage in the third period to finish with a 34-32 edge for the game. GAC went 1-for-5 on the power play and killed off all three opportunities for SJU, which saw its power-play drought increase to six games (7.7 percent/4-for-52 this season).

The win was the 10th consecutive for SJU against GAC and moved the Johnnies' record to 25-4-3 in the last 32 meetings vs. the Gusties at the HBNHC. 

The two teams complete the weekend series with a 7 p.m. puck-drop on Saturday, Jan. 6, in St. Peter.