No. 4 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Finishes Sweep of No 3 Denver with 2-0 Shutout Win

Saturday, January 21

St. Cloud, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

18-6-0, 10-4-0

Denver

19-7-0, 10-4-0

Denver

St. Cloud St.

No. 4 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Finishes Sweep of No 3 Denver with 2-0 Shutout Win

1/22/2023 12:22:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Rogers and Okabe score, Huskies hold Pioneers to 19 shots on goal

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 4 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (18-6-0, 10-4-0 NCHC) finished off its statement weekend with a 2-0 victory over No. 3 Denver (19-7-0, 10-4-0 NCHC) on Saturday evening at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Freshman forward Jack Rogers (East Northport, N.Y.) and senior forward Zach Okabe (Calgary, Alberta) scored for the Huskies, while senior goalie Jaxon Castor (Phoenix, Ariz.) made 19 saves to earn the shutout.

With the win, St. Cloud State is now tied with Denver atop the league standings, as both teams now have 29 points with identical 10-4-0 marks. The win was the Huskies' sixth this season against a top-three ranked opponent, following a sweep over Minnesota State (3-2 & 4-3, Oct. 21-22), a road victory at Denver (4-1, Nov. 4) and a home victory over Minnesota (3-0, Jan. 7).

TURNING POINT

Much different than the night prior, Saturday's contest was much tighter as neither team was able to find the back of the night through the first 27 minutes of play.

St. Cloud State was able to push through first, scoring a pair of goals in a three-minute span to snag a 2-0 lead. Rogers was first, hammering home a backend in the front of the net for his second goal in as many nights at the 7:32 mark of the period. Just a few minutes later, Denver was called for a hooking penalty, putting the Huskies on a power play chance for the first time of the night. Okabe was able to take advantage of the opportunity, hammering home a rebound off a shot from senior forward Jami Krannila (Nokia, Finland) to give the Huskies a two-goal cushion.

TOP HUSKIES

Rogers was named the first star after his goal was his second consecutive game with a score and was his second game-winning goal.
Krannila has two assists in the game and earned the second star of the game.
Castor logged 19 saves for his second shutout of the season, earning the third star of the game.

NOTES

With the win, St. Cloud State improved to 53-55-6 all-time against Denver and 25-21-4 in St. Cloud.
With the win, the Huskies improve to 11-2-0 at home, 15-2-0 when scoring first, 15-0-0 when leading after two periods, 12-1-0 when outshooting its opponent and 12-3-0 when scoring on the power play.
St. Cloud State's win over No. 3 Denver was its sixth of the season against a top-three opponent and its seventh against a ranked opponent overall this season. Before this series, the Huskies' ranked wins have come over No. 2 Minnesota State (3-2 & 4-3, Oct. 21-22), at No. 2 Denver (4-1, Nov. 4), No. 17 Western Michigan (4-1, Nov. 12) and No. 3/1 Minnesota (3-0, Jan. 7).
St. Cloud State converted 1-of-2 chances on the power play, and coupled with three power play scored on Friday, improved his mark with the man advantage to 25.0 percent (23-of-92).
Rogers scored his third goal of the season and his second game-winning goal.
Krannila recorded a pair of assists in the game to reach 16 assists on the season, a new career high for him, surpassing his mark of 15 in 2021-22. He continues to inch closer to the 100-point mark, now standing at 96 points (44 goals / 52 assists).
The Husky senior recorded his 10^th multi-point game of the season and 25^th of his career.
Okabe produced his 15^th goal of the season and 27^th point of the season while scoring his fifth power play goal of the season and 14^th of his career.
Sophomore defenseman Jack Peart (Grand Rapids, Minn.) had an assist on Okabe's goal, matching a career-high for assists in a season at 15, equaling his mark from his freshman campaign.
Castor made 19 saves while logging his second shutout, improving his goals-against-average to 1.85 and save percentage to .927.

HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State will hit the road next, heading north to face (RV) Minnesota Duluth, Jan. 27-28.

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.