Minnesota Duluth Caps OT Comeback over No. 17/16 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey

Friday, March 8

Duluth, Minn.

7:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

15-13-5, 11-8-4

Minnesota Duluth

11-18-5, 7-14-2

OT 1

St. Cloud St.

Minn. Duluth

Minnesota Duluth Caps OT Comeback over No. 17/16 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey

3/8/2024 11:27:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Veeti Miettinen’s three-point night not enough as two-goal third period lead evaporates late

DULUTH, Minn. – No. 17/16 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (15-13-5, 11-8-4 NCHC) fell to Minnesota Duluth (11-18-5, 7-14-2 NCHC), 6-5, in overtime on Friday night at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn. The Bulldogs' Ben Steeves scored the game-winner with 6.7 seconds left while on a four-on-three power play.

SCSU struck first this evening when junior forward Mason Salquist (Grand Forks, N.D.) drilled a top shelf wrister from between the face off circles at 5:07 of the first period. Sophomore forward Grant Ahcan (Burnsville, Minn.) was credited with the assist after wrestling the puck away from a UMD defender.

After the Bulldogs evened the game at 1, senior forward Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) connected on a power play slap shot from the near faceoff circle at 19:21 of the first period to push the Huskies ahead once again. Fifth-year defenseman Dylan Anhorn (Calgary, Alberta) assisted on the go-ahead goal as the Huskies outshot the Bulldogs 18-7 in the opening stanza.

After the Bulldogs pulled even early in the second period, freshman forward Tyson Gross (Calgary, Alberta) five-holed the UMD goalie on a two-on-one rush at 8:21 of the second. Gross started the play on the far boards in the Huskies own zone, made an outstanding pass to the near boards to sophomore defensemen Mason Reiners (Edina, Minn.) to start the breakout and Reiners fed the puck back to a streaking Gross to complete the play. Junior defenseman Karl Falk (Vasteras, Sweden) was credited with the secondary assist.

A little less than three minutes later, the Huskies opened up their first two goal lead of the evening when fifth-year forward Kyler Kupka (Camrose, Alberta) tallied his 10^th goal of the season at 11:13 on the power play. Kupka shot wide of the net initially, Gross was able to corral the deflection off the boards behind the net and feed it back to Kupka immediately for another scoring chance. Veeti Miettinen was credited with the second assist.

The Bulldogs pulled within one at 5:31 of the third, but Veeti Miettinen came through once again. This time taking a cross rink pass off the near boards from freshman forward Verner Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) and pushed the puck in the net at 10:48 of the third for his 17^th goal of the season.

UMD was able to send the game into overtime with a goal late (17:12) to set up the eventual game winner. The Huskies return to action tomorrow night for game two with the Bulldogs with a 6 pm puck drop.

TOP HUSKIES

Vetti Miettenen scored a team-high three points with two goals and one assist.
Gross had a goal and an assist for two points.
Salquist and Kupka added goals for the Huskies.

NOTES

With the loss, SCSU falls to 83-64-11 all-time against UMD and 30-34-3 against the Bulldogs in Duluth.
SCSU had a great night on the power play going two-for-three to increase its conversion rate to 23.2 percent (26-of-112).
Veeti Miettinen increased his team-lead in goals to 17 while adding his 14^th assist for 31 points this season. It marks the second consecutive season Miettinen has reached 30 points after scoring 36 (12g/24a) last season.
Miettinen's two goals give him 50 career goals, as he becomes the 25^th Husky to reach 50 career goals. His two scores marks the second time this season and seventh time in his career he has scored multiple goals in a game.
Miettinen's three points gives him 114 career points as he moves to 25^th all-time on the SCSU Division-I scoring list.
Gross recorded his fourth goal of the season and 10^th assist for 14 points, marking his third two-point game of his freshman campaign and second in the last three games.
Kupka scored his 14^th goal of the season and 28^th point, both career high marks.
Salquist scored for the second consecutive night and for a career-best sixth time this season.
Anhorn recorded his 23^rd assist of the season to improve his season-total to a career-best 29 points.
Verner Miettinen had his 16^th assist and 20^th point to move to fifth and 12^th, respectively, on the all-time freshmen list at SCSU.

HIGHLIGHTS

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth will close the regular season on Saturday at Amsoil Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT on Fox 9 + / NCHC.tv 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 2023-24 season are available at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.