By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team returns home to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for the second game of its two-game MIAC series against Gustavus. Opening face-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-1-0 MIAC, 2-5-1 Overall) at Gustavus Gusties (2-1-0 MIAC, 5-4-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Night:
• Friday, December 6, 2019 * Don Roberts Ice Arena * St. Peter, Minn.: Gustavus erupted for three goals in the first period, and never took its foot off the gas pedal, scoring twice more in both the second and third periods en route to a 7-0 conference win over the Cardinals | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus — A Year Ago:
• October 26, 2018 * Schwan's Super Rink * Blaine, Minn.: The Gusties took advantage of six power-play opportunities — scoring a pair of goals in those six changes — in dealing the Cardinals a 3-1 nonconference setback during the opening day of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Hockey Showcase | Recap
• January 25, 2019 * Saint Mary's Ice Arena * Winona, Minn.: Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) stopped all 28 shots he faced in recording his first collegiate shutout — and Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Owen Sikich (Wolfeboro, N.H.) scored for the Cardinals — as Saint Mary's posted a 2-0 MIAC win over the Gusties | Recap
• January 26, 2019 * Don Roberts Ice Arena * St. Peter, Minn.: Gustavus scored five goals — including three in the third period — as the Gusties earned a split in the teams' two-game MIAC series,  handing the Cardinals a 5-1 setback | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are now off until Jan. 3-4, when they head to Oswego, N.Y., to take part in the SUNY Oswego Tournament. Saint Mary's will face host Oswego on Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. in the opening day of the two-day event. The Cardinals' second-day opponent will be either Williams or the University of New England.
• Gustavus: The Gusties step out of conference play on Friday, heading to Duluth, Minn., for a 7 p.m. nonconference matchup against St. Scholastica.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• Saturday's rematch with the Gusties is just the second home game in the last seven contests for the Cardinals. … Sam Hanson (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) scored the Cardinals' two goals in their 3-2 loss to MSOE on Nov. 26. … Meeh has now scored goals in two of Saint Mary's last three games, and owns a team-high four goals this season — and has recorded at least one point in four of the five games he's played in this year. … Hanson, Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.), Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta), and Thomas Magnavite (Chicago, Ill.) are all second to Meeh in goals with two each. … Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.), who owns three, two-assist games this season, leads the Cardinals with seven helpers, two more than both Tommy Stang and Trevor Wilhelm (St. Louis, Mo.). … Jack Stang leads the team with eight points, one more than brother Tommy and two in front of both Meeh and Wilhelm. … Saint Mary's boasts six players who have recorded their first collegiate goals this season — Hanson, Wilhelm, Magnavite, Nikita Sheberov (Obninsk, Russia), Ian Currie (Franklin, Wis.), and Sam Schultz (Lakeland, Minn.). … The Cardinals have had a multiple-goal scorer twice this season — Meeh against Concordia on Nov. 23 and Magnavite against Lake Forest on Nov. 1. … Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) posted his first three-point game of the season against Lake Forest on Nov. 2, scoring once and assisting on the Cardinals' other two goals in the 4-3 loss. … Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) has stopped 174 shots in seven starts this season. … With his 30-save effort against MSOE on Nov. 26, Nast has now stopped 30 or more shots nine times in the last two seasons. … Nast enters Saturday's matchup against Gustavus with a 3.42 goals-against-average and an .888 save percentage. … Al Rogers (North Haven, Conn.) recorded 32 saves — nine in relief against UW-Superior on Nov. 8 and 23 in his first start of the season against UW-Eau Claire the following day. … Parker Swanson (Eden Prairie, Minn.), who stopped all seven shots he faced in relief of Rogers against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 9 — his first collegiate appearance in goal — made eight saves in relief of Nast against Gustavus Friday. … Nine of the Cardinals' 18 goals this season have been scored in the first period. On the flip side, 14 of Saint Mary's opponents' 31 goals have come in the game's final 20 minutes. … The Cardinals' 3-2, 5-0 sweep of Concordia on Nov. 15-16 marked the first time since Nov. 12-13, 2010 that Saint Mary's has swept the Cobbers. … With their 3-2 loss to MSOE on Nov. 26, the Cardinals have now played 12 games decided by one goal or less — including eight that have gone into overtime — over the past two seasons. … Saint Mary's has scored first in three of its eight games, going 1-2-0. The Cardinals are 1-3-1 when their opponent scores first. … Saint Mary's is 1-0-1 when leading after two, while going 0-2-0 when trialing heading into the third period. … The Cardinals' 3-2 overtime win over Concordia on Nov. 15 snapped their four-game, season-opening winless streak (0-3-1) — it was also the first collegiate coaching win for Cardinal head coach Ryan Egan. … The Cardinals — picked to finish sixth in the MIAC Preseason Coaches Poll — made their third MIAC Tournament appearance in the last five years a year ago. The Cardinals kicked off post-season play with a 5-2 win over Concordia, before falling to Augsburg 8-1 in the semifinals.
 
Scouting The Gustavus Gusties:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• Friday's game against Saint Mary's was the fourth home game in the last five contests for the Gusties, who picked up their first home win (1-3-0) with their 7-0 victory over the Cardinals. … GAC's 2-1 win over nationally ranked Augsburg on Nov. 23 snapped their three-game losing streak. … After scoring nine goals in back-to-back wins over Lawrence (5-2, 4-3) to open the season, Gustavus managed just six goals in its next six games — before Friday's seven-goal outburst against the Cardinals. … Brenden Payne scored twice against Saint Mary's Friday, while Will LeNeave, Jared Bromberg, Nick Klishko, Toby Sengvongxay, and Connor Clemons accounted for the other five goals. … Logan Norman enters Saturday's rematch with Saint Mary's owning a team-high four goals, one more than Klishko, Clemons, and Payne. … Caleb Anderson is the team leader in assists with five, followed by Klishko, Tyler Rock, and Mason Etter with four each. … Klishko and Anderson are sitting atop the Gustavus points lead with seven. … Eleven Gusties have accounted for the team's 24 goals. … Nine of the Gusties' 24 goals have come via special teams — eight power-play goals and one shorthanded tally. … Rock owns two of the Gusties' four game-winning goals, with Anderson, Clemons, and Jared Blomberg netting the other three. … Gustavus has used three different goalies this season — Robbie Goor (6 GP, 1.83 GAA, .942 save %), Justin Damon (3 GP, 1.64 GAA, .951 save %), and Filip Grancarov (1 GP, 2.97 GAA, .885 save %). … Goor owns a team-best 162 saves — including all 24 in shutting out Saint Mary's Friday — followed by Damon with 78 and Grancarov with 23. … Damon stopped all 33 shots he faced en route to shutting out UW-Stout on Nov. 9. … The Gusties have played one overtime game this season — beating Lawrence 4-3 on Nov. 2. … Gustavus is 3-0-0 when scoring first, while going 2-4-0 when its opponent nets the game's first goal. … GAC is a perfect 5-0-0 when leading after two periods, but are 0-3-0 when trailing heading into the game's final 20 minutes.