ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey hits the road for the second game of its two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against Gustavus on Saturday, heading to Don Roberts Ice Arena for a 7:05 rematch with the Gusties.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-5-1 MIAC, 11-8-3 Overall) vs. Gustavus Gusties (1-9-1 MIAC, 2-14-4 Overall)
 
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Last Night:
• Saint Mary's scored a pair of first-period power-play goals—while killing off all four Gustavus man advantages—as the Cardinals collected a crucial 3-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus—A Year Ago:
• February 5, 2016 * St. Peter, Minn.: The Cardinals used a pair of scoring outbursts—including scoring two goals in six seconds early in the second period—en route to a clutch, 4-1 conference win over the host Gusties at Don Roberts Ice Arena | Recap
• February 6, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's put together one of its best periods of the season—completing dominating Gustavus over the game's final 20 minutes. Problem was, a less-than-stellar first period put the Cardinals in a 3-0 hole—a hole they could not dig out of—as Gustavus dealt Saint Mary's a 5-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals hit the road for a pair of conference games against Saint John's next weekend at the Municipal Athletic Complex in St. Cloud, Minn. Saint Mary's and SJU square off at 7:30 p.m. Friday, before completing the two-game series with a 2 p.m. matchup a day later.
• Gustavus: The Gusties close out the regular-season portion of their schedule next weekend, heading to Oscar Johnson Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for a 7 p.m. showdown with Hamline on Friday, with the same two teams traveling to the Don Roberts Ice Arena in St. Peter, Minn., for Saturday's 7:05 p.m. conference rematch.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Friday's game against Gustavus was the final home game of the regular-season for the Cardinals, who close out their schedule at Gustavus on Saturday, and at Saint John's next weekend. … With last Saturday's 5-5 deadlock against league-leading Augsburg, Saint Mary's became the last team in the MIAC to record a tie. … Saint Mary's 2-1 shootout win over the Auggies last Saturday was the Cardinals' first SO win since beating Saint John's 2-1 in a shootout on Nov. 21, 2014. … With their 3-1 win over Gustavus Friday, the Cardinals improved to 9-0-0 when holding their opponent to two goals or less. Saint Mary's is 2-8-3 when allowing three or more goals. … Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.), Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.), and Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) scored the Cardinals' three goals against Gustavus Friday night. … Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) enters Saturday's rematch against Gustavus leading the team in goals (12)—one more than Cesarz—and points (21). … Kinne has scored a goal in six of the Cardinals' last 11 games—and in 11 of the team's 22 contests this season. … Kinne had a hand in five of the Cardinals' seven goals against St. Thomas on Jan. 6-7. The senior scored twice­—including forcing overtime with 16 seconds remaining in regulation—and added an assist in the 6-5 OT loss on Jan. 6, before assisting on Saint Mary's first goal, and scoring the game-winner midway through the second period, in the 2-1 win a day later. … Kinne scored at least one goal in all three games against the Tommies, having also added the game-tying goal with 25 seconds remaining in regulation in the teams' 3-3 tie at the MIAC Hockey Showcase. … With his first-period assist on Kinne's goal against UW-Stout on Jan. 14, Gruse reached the 100 career-point milestone. Gruse heads into this weekend's games against Gustavus with 104 career points. … Walz owns a team-high 12 assists, one more than Gruse and two in front of Albergo. … Gruse is second to Kinne in points with 18. … Kinne and Gruse are two of nine Cardinals who have recorded 10 or more points this season. Albergo (17), Walz (16), Cesarz (16), Jay Heinle (York, Pa. / 14), Portner (14), Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis. / 11), and Meeh (10) are the others. … Walz, who has recorded an assist in five of the team's last 10 games, picked up assists on three of the Cardinals' five goals in their 5-0 Dec. 11 win over Aurora—it was his first career three-assist game. … Walz became the third Cardinal to record a three-assist game this season, joining Albergo and Gruse, who each picked up assists on three of Saint Mary's five goals vs. UW-River Falls on Nov. 5. It was the fourth time in his collegiate career Gruse has had a three-assist night, while Albergo's was his first. … Saint Mary's 75 goals have come from 19 different players—including collegiate firsts from Michael Amelio (Venetia, Pa.), Seth Kamrass (Peachtree Corners, Ga.), Andrew Cummings (Anchorage, Alaska), Dylan Robertson (Darien, Ill.), Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.), Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) and Joey Mavrin (Lockport, Ill.). … Johnson scored on a first-period penalty shot against MSOE on Nov. 22—it was the Cardinals' first since Jesse Polk scored on a penalty shot during the 2007-08 season. … Saint Mary's boasts six players who have recorded multiple-goal games this season—led by Cesarz, Albergo, and Heinle, who have each achieved the feat twice. Kinne and Walz are the other two. … Albergo's two-goal effort against Hamline on Jan. 21 was his sixth career multiple-goal game. Cesarz and Heinle each own five career-multiple-goal games, while Kinne has four. Walz's two-goal effort against UW-River Falls on Nov. 5 was the first multiple-goal game of his career. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.), coming off a 35-save effort in the Cardinals' 5-5 tie against Augsburg last Saturday, stopped 17 of the 18 shots he faced against Gustavus Friday. … Heinle's 35-save effort was just three shy of his season-high. The senior stopped 38 shots against both Bethel and defending national champion UW-Stevens Point. … Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.) made 28 saves against UW-River Falls on Nov. 5 en route to his first win in a Cardinal uniform. … Heinle finished with 25 saves against St. Olaf on Nov. 19 en route to his first shutout of the season—and fourth of his career. … Davis heads into Saturday's game against Gustavus owning a team-best 2.85 goals-against-average and .896 save percentage, with Heinle close behind with a 3.20 GAA and .890 save percentage. … Jake Hebda (Firestone, Colo.)—making his first start of the season—stopped all 12 shots he face against Aurora on Dec. 11 in recording his first collegiate shutout. … Saint Mary's has played five games against nationally ranked teams this season—going 0-1-1 against No. 11 Augsburg last weekend, while also beating then-No. 3 UW-Stevens Point and splitting with then-No. 15 St. Thomas. … With their Jan. 13 game against UW-Stevens Point, the Cardinals have faced a defending national champion three times in the last six seasons, going 2-1. Along with their 4-2 win over the Pointers—last season's national champs—the Cardinals beat national St. Norbert 3-2 during the 2011-12 season, while falling to the then-two-time defending national champion Green Knights 12-2 the following year. … With their 2-1 win over St. Thomas on Jan. 7, the Cardinals have now had six of their last seven games against the Tommies decided by one goal or less, including all three this season—a 6-5 OT loss and 2-1 win last weekend, and a 3-3 tie at the season-opening MIAC Hockey Showcase. … Saint Mary's has played six overtime games this season—having opened the year with a 3-3 tie against St. Thomas and a 3-2 OT loss to Concordia at the MIAC Hockey Showcase, before battling UW-Eau Claire to a 3-3 deadlock, falling to both St. Thomas and UW-Stout by 6-5 counts, and tying Augsburg 5-5. … With their 5-5 tie against Augsburg last Saturday, Saint Mary's is 0-4-5 in its last nine overtime games. The Cardinals' last OT win was a 4-3, double-overtime victory over Concordia in the 2015 MIAC Playoffs. … Nine of the Cardinals' 22 games this season have been decided by one goal or less. … The Cardinals have scored first in 13 of their 22 games this season—including nine of their 11 wins. Saint Mary's is 9-3-1 when scoring first, and 2-5-2 when its opponent nets the game's first goal. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 29-17 in the first period. … The Cardinals, who had their five-game winning streak snapped with a 5-2 loss to Milwaukee School of Engineering on Nov. 22, snapped a season-high three-game losing streak with their 7-2 win over Aurora on Dec. 10. … Saint Mary's loss to Concordia on Dec. 2 snapped their conference-opening four-game winning streak. The Cardinals' four straight wins to open the conference was the first time since the 1997-98 season that Saint Mary's has opened MIAC play 4-0-0. … The Cardinals' 3-3 tie against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 4 marked the second straight meeting between the two teams that has ended in a 3-3 deadlock.
 
Scouting The Gustavus Gusties:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Friday's game against Saint Mary's was the fourth straight road game for the Gusties, who are 2-10-0 on the road this season. Gustavus heads into Saturday's rematch with the Cardinals still searching for its first home win, going 0-4-4 at Don Roberts Ice Arena this season. … With last Saturday's 3-2 loss to Concordia, the Gusties have now gone to overtime in three of their last five games—with all three being 3-2 decisions. GAC beat St. Olaf 3-2, while falling to Concordia and St. Olaf. … Gustavus has played seven overtime games this season, going 1-2-4. … Thirteen of Gustavus' 20 games—including Friday's 3-1 loss at Saint Mary's—have been decided by two goals or less. … Alex Koopmeiners scored the Gusties' lone goal against Saint Mary's Friday. It was his second of the season. … Jake Bushey heads into this weekend's games against Saint Mary's leading the team in assists (13) and points (16). … Evan Erickson has scored a team-high seven goals, three more than Colin Hernon. … Erickson and Russell Barone have scored the Gusties' two game-winning goals. … Gustavus has scored just eight power-play goals in 66 chances (12 percent). … Erik Johnson and Chris Amsden have shared the brunt of the goaltending duties for the Gusties this season. Amsden—who made 31 saves against Saint Mary's Friday—owns a team-best 2.82 goals-against-average and boasts a .903 save percentage in nine starts, while Johnson boasts a 2.87 GAA and team-leading .905 save percentage in 10 starts. … Johnson has been in goal for both of the Gusties' wins this season, stopping 23 shots in GAC's 4-1 win over St. Olaf at the MIAC Hockey Showcase on Oct. 29, while kicking out 29 Ole shots in the Gusties' 3-2 OT win over St. Olaf on Jan. 20. … Gustavus' 3-2 overtime win over St. Olaf on Jan. 20 snapped the Gusties' season-high 14-game losing streak. … GAC has been outscored 62-35—20-7 in the first period, 23-14 in the second, and 17-13 in the third. … Gustavus has scored first seven times this season, going 1-4-2. GAC is 1-10-2 when its opponent nets the game's first goal.