No. 4 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Power Past No. 3 Denver, 7-3

Friday, January 20

St. Cloud, Minn.

7:30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

17-6-0, 9-4-0

Denver

19-6-0, 10-3-0

Denver

St. Cloud St.

No. 4 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Power Past No. 3 Denver, 7-3

1/21/2023 2:20:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Huskies net three power play goals, score four goals in second period to down Pioneers

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 4 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (17-6-0, 9-4-0 NCHC) made a statement on Friday evening with a 7-3 win over No. 3 Denver (19-6-0, 10-3-0 NCHC) at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. After falling behind 2-1 early in the second period, the Huskies scored six of the last seven goals in the game, including four goals in the second period to earn the victory and inch closer to the Pioneers in the league standings.

Five Huskies, including all three of its Hobey Baker Award nominees, recorded two points in the game. Senior forward Jami Krannila (Nokia, Finland) led the way with a pair of goals while the Huskies scored three power play goals.

TURNING POINT

With the Huskies trailing 2-1, Krannila and freshman forward Jack Rogers (East Northport, N.Y.) scored back-to-back goals in a three-minute span to grab the lead at 3-2 halfway through the second period. Just as St. Cloud State thought it had momentum, the Huskies were called for two penalties in 15 seconds, putting them at a 5-on-3 disadvantage. St. Cloud State killed the penalty off, and as soon as the second penalty expired, senior forward Grant Cruikshank (Delafield, Wis.) jumped out of the box and started an odd man rush for the Huskies. Cruikshank found a streaking Krannila on the other side of the ice, who buried home a shot from the right side of the net to give the Huskies a 4-2 lead and capture the momentum for good.

TOP HUSKIES

Krannila scored two goals, including the game-winning goal and earned the first star of the game.
Senior forward Zach Okabe (Okotoks, Alberta) scored the first goal of the game and assisted on another goal to earn the second star of the game.
Cruikshank scored a power play goal and made an assist on the game-winning goal to earn the third star.
Junior goalie Dominic Basse (Alexandria, Va.) made several keys stops with 28 saves and earned the victory in the net for the Huskies.

NOTES

With the win, St. Cloud State improved to 52-55-6 all-time against Denver and 24-21-4 in St. Cloud.
Friday's contest was Denver's first trip to St. Cloud since right before the pandemic, when the two teams split a series on Feb. 28-29, 2020 (SCSU 5-1 win / DU 5-2 win) at the Brooks Center.
With the win, the Huskies improve to 10-2-0 at home, 14-2-0 when scoring first, 14-0-0 when leading after two periods, 11-1-0 when outshooting its opponent and 11-3-0 when scoring on the power play.
St. Cloud State's win over No. 3 Denver was its fifth of the season against a top-three opponent and its sixth against a ranked opponent overall this season.
The Huskies were 3-of-5 on the power play, snapping a 0-for-15 streak on the man advantage. SCSU's last power play goal came against Miami on Dec. 9, 2022.
Krannila scored his 12^th and 13^th goals in the game, marking the fourth time this season and eighth time in his career he has scored two goals in a game. He inches closer to the 100-point mark, now standing at 94 career points (44 goals / 50 assists).
Okabe had a goal and an assist for his eighth multi-point game of the season and 21^st of his career.
Cruikshank's tally was his 16^th of the season, as he remains near the top of the nation's scoring leaders at third. He has already set and continues to reset his career-best marks in goals (16), assists (10) and points (26), surpassing his previous best marks of 11, eight and 18, respectively.
Junior forward Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) scored his sixth goal of the season and fourth power play tally of the season.
Rogers tallied his second goal of the season and his first score since netting a goal at Colorado College on Nov. 19.
Sophomore forward Mason Salquist (Grand Forks, N.D.) scored his first goal of the season with an empty net goal in the third period, breaking a 41-game scoreless streak. Salquist last scored against Bemidji State on Dec. 31, 2021.
Basse made 28 saves and improved to 9-2-0 on the season in the net. His 28 stops marks the fifth time this season and the 25^th time in his career he has made at least 25 saves.
Senior defenseman Dylan Anhorn (Calgary, Alberta) recorded two assists in the game and now ranks first among all NCAA blue liners with 25 points. His 20 assists also rank second nationally among defensemen.
Sophomore defenseman Josh Luedtke (Minnetonka, Minn.) had a pair of assists, matching a career high from when he had two assists against Omaha on Nov. 12, 2021.

HIGHLIGHTS

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State and Denver will conclude its series on Saturday at the Brooks Center. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 p.m. CT on Fox 9 + and KNSI.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Men's Hockey, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Tickets for the 2022-23 season are available at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.