The guys achieved their second series sweep of the season this past weekend with two wins against Gustavus. Friday night we were down in St. Peter for the first game. Gustavus’ rink is never an easy place to play and their hockey team has been playing great all year. This night we played one of our best games of the year and probably our best period of the year. We started the game going down by a goal in the first period. The boys came back in the second to score two unanswered goals to take the lead going into the third period. The best period of the night was the third period where I felt we did a great job shutting them down and not giving them anything. We ended up getting the 4-1 win on the road and the three points in the standings.
On Saturday, we were back home at the National Hockey Center. We have not had a great record at home this season and we knew the importance of the game. The boys came out in the first period and managed to score 4 unanswered goals to take a 4-0 lead. I can’t say the rest of the game we played great, but we held on and managed to get the 6-2 win. We got out-shot in the second and third periods, but we got away from our game a little bit after taking the 4-goal lead. I was extremely proud of the guys on the weekend as it is never easy to get 6 points on a weekend in the MIAC.
I want to make a special mention that senior goalie, Andrew Lindgren, received his fourth MIAC Athlete of the Week award for the two wins while stopping 72 of 75 shots on net. This weekend also propelled him to the top save percentage in the MIAC.
With the 6 points, we locked up a playoff spot and put ourselves in a position to win the MIAC with some help. We have 2 games this weekend on the road at Saint Mary’s. We can only control our games and how we play, but if we take care of our business, we are only one Augsburg loss to St. Thomas to possibly get our first MIAC regular-season title since 2013. I am looking forward to the weekend and the guys are very focused on the task in front of us.
I appreciate all the support this season and I hope to see you in a hockey rink soon.
Go Johnnies.
