St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Makes First Trip to Mullett Arena to Face Arizona State

Friday, February 6

Mullett Arena | Tempe, Ariz.

8:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Arizona State

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Photo by: Bill Prout

St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Makes First Trip to Mullett Arena to Face Arizona State

2/5/2026 2:37:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Game Notes

Huskies and Sun Devils to play Friday and Saturday in Tempe

THE MATCHUP

St. Cloud State Men's Hockey hits the road for the penultimate time this season when the Huskies head to the desert for the second time this calendar year, facing off against Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz., Feb. 6-7 at Mullett Arena. The series begins on Friday at 8:00 p.m. CT / 7:00 p.m. MT and will conclude on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. CT / 5:00 p.m. MT with Tyler Paley and Alex Coli on the broadcast call on NCHC.tv. On the radio, the voice of the Huskies Jim Erickson will have the call over the airwaves on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM).
The Huskies are coming off a tough series sweep against the Miami RedHawks after only being able to muster two power play goals on the weekend, falling 2-1 and 3-1 at the Brooks Center. Senior defensemen Cooper Wylie and Max Smolinski scored the goals for the Huskies on senior weekend. Arizona State is coming off a series split on the road at Colorado College, winning 6-5 in overtime on Friday before falling 4-1 on Saturday.

NATIONAL POLLS / POST-SEASON OUTLOOK

Just one week after its fourth win over a top-10 ranked opponent and its first appearance in the national polls this season, SCSU drops out of both top-20 polls this week following its back-to-back losses to Miami. Arizona State had been receiving votes in both polls earlier this season, but now have fallen out of consideration.
With the end of the season quickly approaching, all eyes have shifted to the NCAA Percentage Index (NPI), which replaces the Pairwise and is the official system for selecting and seeding teams for the NCAA Tournament. In the current NPI, SCSU sits at No. 20 (13-15-0, 0-3 OT) and is close to striking distance of an at-large postseason bid with a strong end to the season. Arizona State ranks at No. 29 with 13-14-1 (4-1 OT).

SERIES HISTORY

This weekend's series will be just the sixth and seventh meetings ever between the two programs, the second series as conference opponents and SCSU's first trip to Mullett Arena. Previously, SCSU hosted the Sun Devils in their inaugural season as a NCAA Division-I program in 2015-16. The Huskies swept ASU in that series played at the Brooks Center, winning 6-1 and 7-0 on Jan. 1-2, 2016.
The next season, SCSU then traveled to the first-ever Desert Hockey Classic in Arizona and played the Sun Devils on the second night of the tournament (Dec. 31, 2016), winning 4-2 behind a hat trick and two shorthanded goals from Robby Jackson in a game played at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley.
Last season, the Sun Devils made the trek up north to the Brooks Center and claimed a series sweep, winning 6-3 and 5-3 on Jan. 17-18, 2025, its first-ever victories over the Huskies.

LEAGUE PLAY LEADERS

SCSU's big three - junior forwards Tyson Gross and Barrett Hall and sophomore forward Austin Burnevik have only elevated their production in conference play, ranking among the league's leaders in several offensive categories. Gross is making his bid for an All-NCHC First Team selection and currently leads the NCHC in goals (12) and faceoff wins (260) while ranking third in points (19) and fifth in faceoff percentage (.576). Burnevik ranks fifth in assists (12) and eighth in points (16) while Hall ranks third in game-winning goals (two), eighth in points (16) and 12th in goals (seven). Additionally, senior defenseman Max Smolinski ranks ninth in assists (10) and sophomore forward Gavyn Thoreson ranks 12th in goals (seven).

TERRIFIC TRIO

Junior forward Tyson Gross (32 points / 1.14 ppg), sophomore forward Austin Burnevik (29 points / 1.07 ppg) and junior forward Barrett Hall (25 points / 0.89 ppg) have led the way offensively for the Huskies through 28 games, all averaging more than or nearly a point per game.
SCSU has not had three players average 1.00+ ppg over a full season since 2018-19 when Patrick Newell (1.17 ppg), Blake Lizotte (1.08 ppg) and Robby Jackson (1.05 ppg) all reached the mark. Gross' current mark of 1.29 ppg is the best mark by a Husky since Kale Kossila posted 1.32 points per game in 2015-16 (54 points in 41 games).
In 38 seasons of Division-I hockey, SCSU has had three or more players average 1.00+ ppg in 14 seasons and just four times since 2003-04.

GROSS ALL AROUND

Junior forward Tyson Gross has been dominate in the faceoff circle this season and is quickly shooting up the nation's leaders with his offensive production. He has won an NCAA-best 399 draws this season and ranks fourth with a 60.7 percent (399-258) success rate among those with 100+ attempts. He also won an NCAA-high 20 draws in both games of the Alaska Anchorage series (Oct. 24-25).
The Husky junior has won 10+ faceoffs in 26 of 28 games this season and 15+ faceoff wins in 14 games.
Gross has scored a point in 21 of 28 games this season, collecting 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points, ranking 14^th nationally in points, 23^rd in goals and 28^th in assists. He is the only play in the nation to have multiple streaks of 8+ games with a point, owning a nine-game streak to start the season and eight-game streak from Nov. 21 to Jan. 3. His streak to begin the season extended to 10 games dating back to March 15, 2025, as he became just the seventh Husky since 2002-03 to record a point streak of 10+ games.
The Husky junior captain is currently producing 1.14 points per game, the best mark in program history since Patrick Newell scored 1.18 points per game (46p/39g) in 2018-19.
When he scored his 20^th point with an assist against North Dakota on Dec. 6, Gross became the 23rd player in program history to begin their SCSU career with three consecutive 20-point seasons.

NETS CLOSED

Ever since being pulled from a start on Dec. 12, freshman goaltender Yan Shostak has flipped a switch and played lights out between the net for the Huskies. In his last five starts, Shostak has posted a 3-2-0 mark with a 2.04 goals-against-average and .935 save percentage while earning NCHC Goaltender of the Week honors following his performance against Minnesota Duluth.
In a Jan. 16 6-0 shutout win over UMD, Shostak made a career-high 42 saves, the most saves by a Husky goaltender in a shutout since Jeff Smith had 42 in a 4-0 win over Minnesota State on Oct. 7, 2017. The 6-0 win was SCSU's first shutout win over UMD since a 2-0 win at Duluth on March 5, 2022, and its largest margin of victory against the Bulldogs since an 8-2 win in Duluth on Feb. 11, 2011.
The 2024-25 USHL Goaltender of the Year has had an up-and-down freshman campaign, but is most recent solid stretch of play has his record to 6-8-0 with a 2.86 GAA, .901 S% and two shutouts.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST SERIES

SCSU was swept at the hands of Miami last weekend, falling 2-1 and 3-1 for its first losses to the RedHawks at home since 2018 and its first in regulation at home since 2014. On Friday, all three goals were scored in a five-minute stretch of the second period, with senior defenseman Cooper Wylie netting a power play goal, his second goal of the season. On Saturday, the Huskies fell behind 3-0 before trying to mount a comeback with senior defenseman Max Smolinski scoring a power play tally midway through the third period. The Huskies had two more scoring chances in the period, with Smolinski hitting two posts on a shot from the outside and then appearing to stuff a rebound home. Both chances went to review and were ruled no goal.
NOTES FROM LAST SERIES:
GAME 1 - 2-1 loss vs. Miami (1-30-26)
- In the loss, SCSU moves to 37-19-6 all-time against Miami and 23-6-3 against the RedHawks in St. Cloud. The loss was SCSU's first to Miami in St. Cloud since March 10, 2018 (3-2 OT) and the first in regulation since March 15, 2014 (4-3).
- SCSU moves to 4-9-0 in game one of a series, 5-8-0 on Fridays, 7-8-0 at home, 2-12-0 when opponent scores first, 1-4-0 when tied after the first period, 1-12-0 when opponent leads after second period.
- The SCSU penalty kill unit killed all three penalties in the game to improve to 74.7 percent (59-of-79) on the season.
- Senior defenseman Cooper Wylie scored his second goal of the season with his second period power play tally.
- Freshman forward Nolan Roed recorded his 10th assist of the season while Urness recorded his sixth, as the freshmen duo remain tied for the team lead among rookies with 12 points.
- Sophomore goaltender Patriks Berzins made 27 saves, the ninth time this season he's stopped at least 25 shots.
- Junior forward Tyson Gross went 18-12 in the faceoff dot, marking the 25th time in 27 games this season he's won 10 or more faceoffs in a game and the 13th time he's won 15+.
GAME 2 - 3-1 loss vs. Miami (1-31-26)
- In the loss, SCSU moves to 37-20-6 all-time against Miami and 23-7-3 against the RedHawks in St. Cloud.
- SCSU moves to 7-6-0 in game two of a series, 8-6-0 on Saturdays, 7-9-0 at home, 2-13-0 when opponent scores first, 2-11-0 when trailing after the first period and 1-13-0 when opponent leads after second period.
- The SCSU penalty kill unit killed both penalties in the game to improve to 75.3 percent (61-of-81) on the season.
- Senior defenseman Max Smolinski netted his fifth goal of the season to tie a career-high for goals in a season with his mark from last season at RPI. His 17 points on the season are a new career-high.
- Sophomore forward Austin Burnevik recorded his 15th assist, matching his mark from his freshman campaign while reaching the 30-point mark for the first time in his career.
- Sophomore defenseman Finn Loftus' assist gives him 10 on the season.
- Freshman goaltender Yan Shostak made 24 saves, marking the 12th time in 15 games he's made at least 20 saves in a game.
- Junior forward Tyson Gross went 15-17 in the faceoff dot, marking the 26th time in 28 games this season he's won 10 or more faceoffs in a game and the 14th time he's won 15+.