ST. PETER, Minn.: As the saying goes, numbers don't lie. And the statistics for the Yellowjacket men's hockey team definitely tell a story.

For example, when the Yellowjackets score first, they are 12-0-0. When they don't, they are without a win. The Yellowjackets have no blemishes on their record when leading after one period, and the same thing was true when leading after two periods. The operative word in the last part of the previous sentence is was.

Saturday night at Gustavus the Yellowjackets did something they hadn't done all year - they didn't win when leading after two periods. Gustavus erased a pair of one-goal leads in the period, the last coming with just 3:09 to play in regulation time, and the Yellowjackets were forced to settle for a 3-3 tie at the Don Roberts Ice Rink at Lund Arena.

It was the first time in 11 games this season the Yellowjackets (12-2-2, 5-2-0 WIAC) didn't win a game when leading after 40 minutes, falling to 10-0-1 for the year. Another trend sees the Yellowjackets remaining winless when giving up the first goal, as they are now 0-2-2.

The action was end-to-end to start the game Saturday, with a whistle-free stretch of over eight minutes early in the period. The first ten minutes featured only two stoppages as the teams enjoyed great flow and a frantic pace. It slowed down just past the midway point of the period, and shortly after the Yellowjackets were dealt a blow. Starting goaltender Oscar Svensson (Södertälje, Sweden/Haga Gymnasium) stopped the first five shots, but with just over seven minutes left in the period he went down and never got back up. Trainers helped Svensson off the ice and he didn't return to the game. Myles Hektor (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) entered the game and seconds later Gustavus broke the ice.

At 13:13 Reid Brown took a pass between the circles and wired a shot past Hektor to make it a 1-0 game.

In the second period the Yellowjackets came alive at both ends of the ice, holding the Gusties to just three shots and scoring twice to move ahead.

With the Yellowjackets on the power play Charles Martin (Blainville, Quebec/École internationale Lucille-Teasdale) threaded a perfect pass to Artur Terchiyev (Kiev, Ukraine/Everst Academy) in the left circle, and the sophomore defenseman beat Gustavus goaltender Justin Damon up high for his fifth goal of the year to tie the game at 1-1. Terchiyev's fifth goal of the year came at 10:50.

A few minutes later the Yellowjackets took the lead. Chad Lopez (Arlington, Texas/University of Texas) pushed an offensive zone faceoff forward, got to the loose puck and pushed a pass up the boards to Dylan Johnson (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet). Johnson's pass came to Conor MacLean (Wilcox, Saskatchewan/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame) in the left circle and he made no mistake, picking up his fourth goal of the year at 14:16 to make it 2-1. MacLean now has goals in three straight games.

Gustavus tied the game at 7:42 of the third period on a power play from Connor Clemons. Hektor stopped the first two shots but couldn't get the third one, and Clemons' marker tied the game at 2-2.

Less than two minutes later the Yellowjackets regained the lead. Troy York (Plano, Texas/West) got the puck in the neutral zone and made a perfect pass to Coltyn Bates (Brandon, Manitoba/Vincent Massey Collegiate), allowing him to split the defense and go in alone on Damon. Bates got the puck on his forehand and slipped a shot between Damon's pads for his third goal of the year, giving the Yellowjackets a 3-2 lead with 10:33 to go in the third.

But once again the Gusties would rally and tie the game. Caleb Anderson, who had an assist earlier in the game, took a shot that beat Hektor with 3:09 to play to make the score 3-3.

The teams went to overtime and the Yellowjackets were presented with a golden opportunity to pick up the win when they went on the power play 1:23 in. Gustavus had other ideas, however, shutting down the Yellowjacket man advantage. The Gusties outshot the Yellowjackets 4-1 in the extra session, but Hektor stood tall and the teams had to settle for a draw.

Svensson made five saves before being relieved by Hektor, who finished the night with 16 saves on 19 shots. At the other end Damon made 27 stops.

The Yellowjackets are unbeaten in their last eight games (6-0-2) and will take that streak into Sunday's late-afternoon game at St. Thomas, their final non-conference game of the 2019-20 season.