The Johnnies begin their final regular-season series by hosting St. Olaf for a 7 p.m. puck-drop on Thursday, Feb. 8, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The two teams complete the series with a 7 p.m. game on Friday, Feb. 9, in Northfield.

LIVE COVERAGE
-Thursday, Feb. 8 in St. Cloud: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video
-Friday, Feb. 9 in Northfield: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (9-10-4, 6-7-1 MIAC) split with Saint Mary's last weekend.

at Saint Mary's 5, Saint John's 3 – Feb. 1
SJU outshot Saint Mary's by a 44-24 margin but went 0-for-4 on the power play in a 5-3 loss last Thursday (Feb. 1) in Winona. Colin Tushie gave Saint Mary's a 1-0 lead with a 2-on-1 goal 11:14 into the game and Jack Vaughan gave the home team a two-goal cushion off a defensive-zone turnover with 2:06 remaining in the first period.

The second period belonged to SJU, however, as the visitors scored three goals with an 18-5 shot advantage in the frame. Freshman forward Jacob McPartland (Victoria, Minn.) cut the Johnnies' deficit in half with his fourth goal of the season 2:01 into the second, but Bud Winter gave the Cardinals a two-goal lead again with a power-play goal 1:09 later. 

SMU's power play entered the game last in the MIAC at 5.9 percent (2-for-34) in conference play and went 2-for-2 Thursday night. SJU, meanwhile, was No. 12 in NCAA Division III on the penalty kill at 88.3 percent (68-for-77).

Sophomore forward Justin Thompson (Woodbury, Minn.) was denied on an attempt after he skated in on net halfway through the second period (10:27), but senior defenseman Jack Olsen (Lakeville, Minn.) charged up the slot and snuck the rebound past the SMU goaltender to make it 3-2. The goal was Olsen's fourth of the season and eighth of his career.

Sophomore defenseman Michael Spinner (Prior Lake, Minn.) tied the game with a seeing-eye wrister in traffic, his first goal of the season, with 4:29 left in the second. All three of Spinner's career goals are against Saint Mary's.

Kellen Tharaldson scored what proved to be the game-winning goal 5:31 into the third period on a shot from the right boards. 

With junior goaltender Bailey Huber (Mahtomedi, Minn.) off the ice in an attempt to tally the game-tying goal, junior forward Spencer Rudrud (Eden Prairie, Minn.) was whistled for a cross-checking penalty in the offensive zone (in front of the net) with 48 seconds remaining. Tushie then sealed the game with an empty-net, power-play goal with seven seconds on the clock. Huber finished with 19 saves.

The Cardinals, like their power play, took the ice Thursday night last in the MIAC on the penalty kill at 75 percent (27-for-36) in league games, but SJU went 0-for-4, including 24 seconds with a 5-on-3 in the third period.

at Saint John's 4, Saint Mary's 2 – Feb. 3
The Johnnies earned the series split with a crucial 4-2 home win over Saint Mary's on Saturday night (Feb. 3) at the HBNHC.

The Johnnies built a 2-0 lead with a pair of first-period goals. Senior forward Lewis Crosby (Edina, Minn.) started the game's scoring when he buried a pretty one-timer from Spinner with 4:09 left in the first period. The tally was Crosby's third of the season and 27th of his SJU career.

Thompson then made it a two-goal game with his third goal of the semester at the 18:30 mark on another feed from Spinner.

Bud Winter cut the deficit in half for Saint Mary's 5:04 into the second period, but sophomore defenseman Conner Couet (St. Michael, Minn.) made his first collegiate goal count in a big way, shorthanded, to give the Johnnies a 3-1 cushion with 2:08 left in the frame.

The Cardinals countered once again on a goal from Jackson Nauss 2:21 into the third period, but again the Johnnies answered. This time it was sophomore defenseman Mason Campbell (Rosemount, Minn.), on a delayed penalty, for his fourth goal of the season and 10th of his career with 12:54 left to play.

Sophomore goaltender Jon Howe (Chanhassen, Minn.) made 26 saves to improve to 6-3-2 this season. SJU posted a 36-28 advantage in shots, including a 10-4 margin in the third period. Both teams went 0-for-4 on the power play.

MIAC ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Spinner was named the MIAC Men's Hockey Offensive Player of the Week on Monday (Feb. 5) for his three-point (1g/2a) performance against Saint Mary's. Six (3g/3a) of Spinner's nine career points (3g/6a) – including all three goals – were recorded in four games against the Cardinals.

STAT COMPARISONS: SJU and STO are very similar in regard to scoring offense and defense, in MIAC play, but are opposites on special teams.

Scoring Offense
4. STO, 2.92 gpg. (3.05 gpg.)
5. SJU, 2.86 gpg. (2.61 gpg.)

Scoring Defense
4. SJU, 2.71 gpg. (2.48 gpg.)
5. STO, 2.83 gpg. (2.48 gpg.)

Power Play
1. STO, 23.8 percent/10-for-42 (23.4 percent/18-for-77 *No. 19 in Division III)
8. SJU, 10.6 percent/5-for-47 (8.6 percent/7-for-81)

Penalty Kill
4. SJU, 85.7 percent/42-for-49 (86.7 percent/72-for-83 *No. 17 in Division III)
t8. STO, 77.5 percent/31-for-40 (79.2 percent/61-for-77) 

A LOOK AT THE OLES: St. Olaf (8-10-3, 4-6-2 MIAC) was swept by Concordia two weeks ago on Jan. 23 and Jan. 26. The Cobbers scored three power-play goals in the first meeting, in Northfield, for a 4-2 lead after the first two frames before STO cut the deficit to one with 6:14 remaining. Concordia picked up an empty-net goal with just 1:24 to play and St. Olaf scored 53 seconds later, but could not complete the comeback. The second game was played in Warroad as part of Hockey Day MN. STO struck first this time with a pair of goals in the opening period from freshman forwards Tyler Green and Joey Kennelly. The Oles had a 2-1 lead late in the third period before Concordia scored a trio of goals in the final 4:03 for the late win. Junior forward Cody Sherman leads the Oles with 16 points (5g/11a) this season, while junior defenseman Connor Kalthoff is next with 14 (4g/10a). Senior goaltender Lukas Haugen is 4-6-1 with a .929 save percentage and a 1.92 GAA in 11 games this season (10 starts). Junior goaltender Thomas Lalonde is 4-4-2 with an .893 save percentage and a 2.82 GAA in nine contests.

LAST SEASON'S MEETINGS: The Johnnies picked up four of the six possible points against the Oles in 2022-23.

t-at Saint John's 2, St. Olaf 2 (OT; STO, 1-0) – Feb. 10, 2023
SJU scored two goals in the game's final four minutes to tie St. Olaf 2-2 last Feb. 10 (2023) at the HBNHC in St. Cloud. The Oles earned the extra point in the conference standings with a 1-0 win in the shootout thanks to a goal from Jonathan Young in round two.
 
Olsen cut the deficit to 2-1 for SJU with a power-play goal - a shot from the left point six seconds into the man advantage - with four minutes remaining in regulation. The goal ended the Johnnies' frustration, as the home team controlled play for most of the game and outshot the Oles 36-18 after the first period. 
 
The swing in momentum led to another goal from Olsen, from nearly the same spot with the extra attacker on the ice, with 1:15 left. Rudrud and Crosby provided the assists on both goals.
 
Nick Michel '23 hit the pipe twice, once during a power play in the second period and another in the third, and was denied on a mini breakaway with 36.5 seconds left in regulation.  
 
A defensive-zone turnover turned into a one-timer goal for St. Olaf, Brendan Darby to Jonathan Panisa, to open the scoring with 3:30 left in the first period.
 
SJU recorded the first eight shots of the second period and eventually finished with a 17-7 margin in the frame, but the Oles' Sean Walsh made it 2-0 with a sharp-angle shot that glanced off the backside of Huber and into the net with 2:24 left before intermission. Huber finished with 24 saves.
 
SJU finished with a 42-26 advantage in shots and killed off all three STO power plays, including a 5-minute major in the third period.

Saint John's 3, at St. Olaf 2 – Feb. 11, 2023
The Johnnies ended their regular-season schedule with a 3-2 win at St. Olaf to clinch its fifth-consecutive appearance in the MIAC Playoffs. The Johnnies built a 3-0 lead and held on for the win. 
 
Joe Papa '23 opened the scoring for SJU with his fifth goal of the season with 7:38 left in the first period. A shot from the left point from Dan Wieber '23 was blocked and Papa took possession of the puck in front, spun and scored.
 
Michel made it 2-0 with his 15th goal of the season and 25th of his SJU career 2:33 into the second period and junior forward Jackson Sabo (Rosemount, Minn.) scored what proved to be the game-winning tally, his fourth goal of the season, halfway through (9:26) the frame.
 
Jonathan Panisa erased the shutout with 8:06 left in the second period for St. Olaf and Spencer Light made it a one-goal game seven minutes into the third. STO looked to have tied the game with 33.7 seconds remaining, but an Ole was in the crease and took out Huber's feet from beneath him. Huber made 17 saves, including a huge stop on a point-blank shot from the slot in the game's final seconds, to improve his season record to 11-4-3 (8-3-2 MIAC).
 
SJU posted a 26-19 advantage in shots and both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 54-28-5 against St. Olaf since the 1984-85 season, including a 15-5-2 record in the last 22 meetings overall and a 20-9-4 mark in the last 33 games on the Johnnies' home ice.