WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's men's hockey team and Saint John's needed extra hockey, and then some, on Thursday night, skating to a 2–2 tie before the Cardinals earned a shootout victory at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
Saint Mary's (7-7-2, 3-3-1 MIAC) scored twice in the second period, including a power-play strike from Carter Newpower, before the Johnnies (8-4-4, 3-1-3 MIAC) rallied to force overtime. Newpower later delivered the lone goal of the shootout, while goaltender Adam Prokop turned aside all three Saint John's attempts to secure the extra point.
Newpower finished the night with a power-play goal and three shots on goal, while Joona Juntunen had a standout performance with a goal, an assist, and six shots. Cole Mickel added an assist and blocked three shots, and Prokop was steady between the pipes with 27 saves.
The opening period was fast-paced and physical, with Saint Mary's generating early chances but unable to find the back of the net. Newpower rang a shot off the post during a power play, and several other Cardinal looks were denied by traffic in front.
Saint John's struck first at 10:56 to give the visitors a 1–0 lead heading into intermission.
A late penalty, however, sent the Cardinals into the second period with a man advantage and Saint Mary's took full advantage.
Newpower evened the score at 8:52 of the second period, ripping home a power-play goal off feeds from Juntunen and Mickel. Just over two minutes later, Juntunen gave the Cardinals their first lead of the night, finishing an even-strength chance set up by Ryan Berglund to make it 2–1.
The Cardinals carried that momentum through the rest of the period, heading into the third with the lead.
Defense took center stage in the final period, as Saint Mary's blocked shots and won key faceoffs to protect its advantage. Markus Andrews was especially active in the defensive zone, and Prokop came up with several timely saves.
Saint John's finally broke through at the 13:00 mark, tying the game at 2–2 on a goal by Chris Kernan. Despite late chances at both ends, regulation ended deadlocked.
Overtime featured end-to-end action, with Mickel stepping in to block an early Johnnie attempt and Juntunen generating multiple quality chances. Neither team could solve the opposing goaltender, sending the game to a shootout.
In the shootout, Newpower delivered the decisive moment, beating Jon Howe with the Cardinals lone goal. Prokop was perfect in net, stopping all three Saint John's shooters to seal the 3–2 shootout win.
The Cardinals will take the Friday to prepare for their rematch against the Johnnies set for Saturday, Jan. 24 for a 3:00 p.m. puck drop in Collegeville.
