ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team hits the road on Friday, as the Cardinals travel to Don Roberts Ice Arena for the first game of their two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against Gustavus. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-6-1 MIAC | 8-11-2 Overall) at Gustavus Gusties (3-5-2 MIAC | 4-11-4 Overall)
 
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• Live Stats * Live Video | Video Preview
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals dropped a pair of games to Augsburg last weekend, falling 4-1 last Friday at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, then suffering a 5-0 setback at day later in Minneapolis, Minn. | Augsburg Recap 1 * Augsburg Recap 2
• Gustavus: The Gusties split their two conference games against Concordia last weekend at Don Roberts Ice Arena in St. Peter, Minn., as GAC collected a 6-3 win in the opening game of the two-game series on Friday, before falling 3-0 in the nightcap on Saturday | CC Recap 1 * CC Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus—Earlier This Year:
• October 30, 2015 * Blaine, Minn.: Goals came in bunches for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota and Gustavus men's hockey teams Friday evening. Three goals in 1:10. Two goals in 45 seconds. Two goals in 29 seconds. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the game's final goal stood all alone—and was scored with just 25 seconds remaining in regulation—lifting Gustavus to a 5-4 nonconference win over Saint Mary's during Day 1 of the MIAC Hockey Showcase | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus—A Year Ago:
• January 23, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: Fueled by a pair of first-period goals—and the shutout goaltending of Phil Heinle (York, Pa.)—the Cardinals used a lethal 1-2 punch to knock out the Gusties 3-0 at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
• January 24, 2015 * St. Peter, Minn.: Saint Mary's season-high five-game winning streak came to a screeching—and heartbreaking—halt, as Gustavus scored the game-winning goal with nine seconds remaining in overtime to hand the Cardinals a 2-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at Don Roberts Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Gusties head to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Saturday for the second game of their two-game conference series. Opening face-off is slated for 7 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015-16 Roster | 2015-16 Statistics | 2015-16 Schedule
• The Cardinals' 4-1 and 5-0 losses to Augsburg last weekend marked just the second and third times this season Saint Mary's has been held to less than two goals in a game. … The Cardinals' 5-3 win over the Pipers on Jan. 23 snapped Saint Mary's season-high four-game losing streak—a streak that saw the Cardinals surrender six goals in all four contests. … Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.) scored Saint Mary's lone goal against the Auggies last weekend. … Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) recorded his third multiple-goal game of the season with two goals against Hamline on Jan. 23. … Gruse owns seven multiple-goal games in his career. … After not scoring a goal in his first year as a Cardinal, Jay Heinle (York, Pa.) leads the team with 14 goals, one more than Gruse and five in front of Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.). … Kinne collected three assists in the Cardinals' 5-3 win over Hamline on Jan. 23. It was the second time in his collegiate career he has had three assists in a game—the first time was also against Hamline on Feb. 20, 2015. … Saint Mary's has had a player dish out three assists in a game four times this season—Gruse has done it twice, while Kinne and Kellen Wasell (Edmonds, Wash.) each achieved the feat once. … Gruse has recorded at least one point in 14 of the team's 21 games, while Kinne has notched at least one point in 12 of 21 contests. … Gruse—who posted the third four-point game of his collegiate career against Bethel on Nov. 13—leads the team in points with 28 and Kinne owns a team-best 16 assists. … Gruse is one of eight Cardinals with at least 10 points this season—Kinne (25), Heinle (20),  Johnson (17), Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich. / 16), Wasell (14), Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn. / 14), and Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill. / 13) are the others. … Drew DePalma (Armada, Mich.) became the third Cardinal to score his first collegiate goal with his first-period tally against Hamline on Jan. 22.  Heinle and Landon Farrell (Rochester, Minn.) have also scored their first goals as a Cardinal this season. … Jake Tugnutt (Peterborough, Ontario), who stopped 22 shots against Augsburg last Friday, made a season-high 34 saves in the Cardinals' 5-3 win over Hamline on Jan. 23. … Tugnutt stopped 23 shots against Aurora on Nov. 29 to record his first win in a Cardinal uniform. … Jake Hebda (Firestone, Colo.), who posted 28 saves vs. Augsburg last Saturday, stopped a career-high 45 shots against St. Thomas on Jan. 8. … Hebda earned his first win in a Cardinal uniform with that 45-save showing in Saint Mary's 4-3 victory over St. Thomas on Jan. 8. … Hebda's 45 saves against St. Thomas marked the second straight game a Cardinal goalie posted 45 saves—Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) made a season-high 45 saves against MSOE on Jan. 3. … With their five goals in back-to-back games against Hamline on Jan. 22-23, the Cardinals have now scored four goals or more in 12 of their 21 games. … The Cardinals have scored 83 goals in their first 21 games. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 28-23 in the game's final 20 minutes. … Saint Mary's is 7-1-2 when scoring first, while going 1-10-0 in games in which the Cardinals' opponent scores first. … The Cardinals had eight different players record at least two points in the two-game series sweep vs. Aurora on Nov. 28-29. … The Cardinals' 10 goals against Bethel in their Nov. 13 10-2 victory were the most since netting 11 against Aurora on Dec. 6, 2014—and the most in a conference game since scoring 14 against Concordia on Dec. 7, 2007. … The Cardinals' combined 19 goals in their sweep of the Royals were the most since scoring 21 in 14-3 and 7-2 victories over Concordia on Dec. 7-8, 2007. … The Cardinals' season-high eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) earlier this season was the longest since Saint Mary's went 7-0-1 during the 1996-97 season. … Saint Mary's 4-3 victory over St. Thomas on Jan. 8 snapped a 22-game winless streak (0-19-3) against the Tommies—dating back to a 4-2 win on Dec. 11, 2004. … The Cardinals have recorded three hat tricks this season—Kinne scored three times against Aurora on Nov. 29, while Heinle posted his first collegiate hat trick against Bethel on Nov. 13, and Johnson found the back of the net three times against Bethel on Nov. 14. … The Cardinals 6-2 loss to fourth-ranked UW-Stevens Point on Jan. 15 was their fourth game against a nationally ranked team this season. Saint Mary's also collected a 4-2 win over 10^th-ranked UW-River Falls, battled No. 8 UW-Eau Claire to a 3-3 tie, and fell to No. 15 MSOE 6-4. … Saint Mary's 6-5 loss to Hamline on Jan. 22 was the Cardinals' third overtime game of the season. Saint Mary's is 0-1-2 in those three contests, falling to the Pipers and tying UW-Eau Claire and St. Olaf.
 
Scouting The Gustavus Gusties:
2015-16 Roster | 2015-16 Statistics | 2015-16 Schedule
• Friday's game against Saint Mary's is the fourth straight home game for the Gusties, who own a xx-xx-x record at Don Roberts Ice Arena this season. … Last Saturday's 3-0 loss to Concordia snapped the Gusties' three-game unbeaten streak (1-0-2). … Gustavus posted back-to-back 3-3 ties against St. Olaf on Jan. 22-23—and both times the Gusties lost in the shootout. … Twelve of Gustavus' 19 games have been decided by two goals or less. … Sam Majka and Tim Donohue each scored twice in the Gusties' 6-3 win over Concordia last Friday, while Colin Hernon and Darren Lapic accounted for the other two goals. …  With his goal against Concordia, Hernon moved into the team lead with six goals this season, one more than Donohue and two in front of Majka. … Majka is the team-leader in both assists (9) and points (13). … Majka is one of three Gustie players with 10 or more points this season—Hernon (11) and Van Sullivan (11) are the others. … Gustavus' four game-winning goals this season have come from four different players. … Gustavus has scored just five power-play goals this season—going 5-for-58 (.086) with the man advantage. … Chris Amsden and Erik Johnson have shared the goaltending duties this season—Amsden enters this weekend's games against Saint Mary's with a 2.49 goals-against-average and .910 save percentage in nine starts, while Johnson has compiled a 3.69 GAA and .886 save percentage in six starts. … Amsden owns a team-high 262 saves, 29 more than Johnson. … Last Saturday's 3-0 loss to Concordia marked the third time this season the Gusties have been shutout out 3-0. GAC also lost 3-0 to Saint John's and UW-River Falls. … The Gusties are unbeaten in their six overtime games this season (2-0-4). … Three of GAC's four overtime ties this season have been 3-3 decisions, while the other was a 0-0 deadlock against UW-Stout on Nov. 7. … Gustavus has scored first in all four of its wins this season (4-2-1)—the Gusties are 0-9-2 when their opponent scores the game's first goal.