ST. CLOUD, Minn. - The Gustavus men's hockey team played Saint John's to a 2-2 overtime draw on Friday night, and gained an extra point in the conference standings with a shootout victory. The Gusties snap an 11-game losing streak against the Johnnies, moving to 12-7-1 overall and 8-2-1 in the MIAC.
Hunter Newhouse opened the scoring with his team-leading 11th goal of the season 5:25 into the game, assisted by
Jack Anderson and
Joey Gimberlin, and the score remained 1-0 at the end of the first period.
Saint John's netted the equalizer two minutes into the second period and it remained a tie game for a majority of the frame until
Drew Holt ripped in his fifth goal of the season with just 42 seconds on the clock.
Jackson McCarthy was credited with 10th assist of the season and the Gusties carried a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
The Johnnies tied it once again at the 13:34 mark of the third and neither team was able to tally the go-ahead goal in regulation and the game was sent to overtime. Playing in their third consecutive overtime game, the Gusties didn't find the back of the net in the three-on-three extra frame, but also kept the home team off the board, sending the game to a shootout.
Marko Belak stood up to the challenge and stopped all five shots faced in the shootout, while
Wilmer Svensson tallied the shootout winner on the Gusties' fifth attempt. Belak finished with a career-high 36 saves as the Johnnies had more shots, 38-31. The Gusties went 0-for-3 on the power play but killed all four Johnnie advantages.
Game two of the MIAC series is set for 7 p.m. Saturday in Saint Peter.
