Box Score  | GameDay Preview

BLAINE, Minn. — Sunday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Hockey Showcase game proved to be extra special for the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team — as in extra-special special teams.

The Cardinals scored a pair of third-period power play goals, while killing off six of seven St. Olaf man advantages, as SMU picked up its first win of the season, a 3-2 victory at Fogerty Arena.

"We talked a lot before the game about playing with passion — we didn't do that (Friday in a 6-2 loss to Augsburg), but we certainly did today," said SMU coach Bill Moore, whose team has now gone 1-1 in each of the last two MIAC Hockey Showcases. "Special teams was the difference — we converted on two of our five (power play) chances, and we killed off six of St. Olaf's seven chances.

"No question it's good to get that first win under our belts," Moore added. "But we've still got a lot of work ahead of us."

After a scoreless first period — in which the Cardinals killed off four St. Olaf power plays and goalie Christian Gaffy (Scandia, Minn.) stopped all 14 Ole shots — SMU struck first, as Brad Denney (Fishers, Ind.) rifled a slap shot from the top of the left circle that beat STO goalie Steve Papciak low to the stick side just 39 seconds into the stanza.

The Cardinals clung to that 1-0 advantage — and killed off two more Ole power plays — before St. Olaf struck back, as Marc Richards' slap shot from the point beat a screened Gaffy with 1:14 remaining in the period to knot things up at 1-1 heading into the game's final 20 minutes.

And what a final 20 minutes it proved to be.

After failing to convert on the first nine power plays combined, both teams' special teams came to life in the third.

St. Olaf's Matt Guerts found the back of the net two minutes into the frame with the Oles on the man advantage, and SMU's Bobby Thompson (Centerville, Minn.) returned the favor with a power play goal of his own at 12:57 to even the score at 2-2.

And, with 2:38 remaining in regulation, Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) picked the upper corner with a wrist shot that beat Papciak and propelled the Cardinals to the one-goal win.

Gaffy, making his first start of the season, finished with 36 saves, while Papciak finished with 27 saves — including 12 in the third period — for the Oles.

The Cardinals (1-1-0 overall) are back in action next weekend, when they square off against St. Thomas in a two-game, conference-opening series. SMU entertains the Tommies in a 7 p.m. matchup at the SMU Ice Arena on Friday, then travels to the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., for a 7 p.m. rematch on Saturday.