SUPERIOR, Wis. – If prompted, most hockey players and coaches would prefer to have a game decided in the regulation 60 minutes. They'll play the overtime, if necessary, but at the end of the day, they'd prefer to avoid the stress that can come from overtime, and if needed, a shootout.
That doesn't seem to be the case for the 2024-25 Yellowjacket men's hockey team. No decision after 60 minutes? No problem.
Saturday, the Yellowjackets and Saint John's decided nothing in regulation time, but the 'Jackets needed just 14 seconds of overtime to break the stalemate and keep their winning streak alive.
After winning the opening faceoff of overtime,
Justin Dauphinais (Val Caron, Ontario/École Secondaire Catholique Horizon) drove the net and redirected a perfect pass from
Daniel Rozsival (Chicago, Ill./North Shore Country Day) past Saint John's goaltender Jon Howe to propel the Yellowjackets to a 2-1 win Saturday at Wessman Arena.
It was the second time in the game that Dauphinais and Rozsival teamed up, capping two-point games for each as they helped the Yellowjackets (12-3-1, 5-1-0) to their eighth win a row. The eight straight wins is tied for the fourth-longest winning streak in program history. The last time a Yellowjacket team won eight in a row was Nov. 1 through Nov. 26, 2008.
Kobe Grant (Vernon, British Columbia/South Kamloops Secondary) made his third consecutive start in goal for the Yellowjackets and turned in another stellar outing, making 33 saves to improve to 5-1-1 on the year. On the weekend, Grant stopped 63-of-65 shots for a save percentage of .969.
Game Notes
- Goaltenders were the story Saturday, as Grant and Howe combined for 51 saves to keep the game scoreless through two periods.
- The Yellowjackets opened the scoring at 5:08 of the third when Dauphinais forced a turnover in the Saint John's zone, stole the puck and fed Rozsival, who wired a shot from the slot past Howe on the glove side for his fifth of the year.
- Saint John's tied it at 10:37 when Jackson Sabo's shot was partially blocked and deflected past Grant to make it 1-1.
- The Yellowjacket penalty kill was forced to kill of a penalty late in the third and came through to finish the game 4-for-4.
- In overtime, Blake Holmes (Apple Valley, Minn./St. Thomas Academy) started the winning play, feeding Rozsival on the left wing. Rozsival entered Saint John's territory and placed a perfect pass to the goal mouth, setting the stage for Dauphinais' heroics.
- It was the third overtime win of the year for the Yellowjackets, who now sit at 3-0-1 when playing beyond 60 minutes.
- The Yellowjackets outshot Saint John's 41-34.
- Reed Stark (Suffern, N.Y./Douglas County West) and Collin Pederson (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna) led the Yellowjackets with five shots on goal apiece.
- When putting at least 40 shots on goal, the Yellowjackets are 4-0-0 this season.
- Saturday's game was the final non-conference game of the season for the Yellowjackets. They went 7-2-1 in games outside the WIAC.
It's a quick turnaround for the Yellowjackets, who will be back home Wednesday, Jan. 15, when they host Northland College. The opening faceoff is se for 7:05 p.m. at Wessman Arena.
