The stadium takes a moment of silence before the national anthem for the Florida school shooting. The game proved to be a thriller as St. Thomas topped Hamline 4-3 Friday night. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Forward Colton Berg lines up a pass into the zone Friday night against Hamline. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
A fight between a Tommie and a Piper breaks out after a big hit into the boards. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Forward Brett Gravelle dekes near the goal. Gravelle had one assist Friday night against Hamline. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Forward Broydon Stufko drives towards the goal. Stufko had two shots on goal Friday night. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Hamline forward Andrew Paras lays a big hit on a Tommie in front of the Hamline bench. The game was physical Friday night as both teams collectively racked up 13 penalties. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
St. Thomas celebrates its first goal of the game late in the first period. The goal was scored by forward Gavin Payne and assisted by defender Jake Zeleznikar and right wing Tanner Barnes.
Right wing Tanner Barnes looks to get a shot off. Barnes scored the game winning goal with only nine seconds remaining in the third period Friday night against Hamline. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Defender Jake Zeleznikar looks for the open man near the blue line. Zeleznikar had one assist Friday night. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
Right wing Tanner Barnes stumbles after an open ice hit. Barnes had two assists and a game-winning goal against Hamline Friday night. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — St. Thomas forward Tanner Barnes buried a goal with eight seconds remaining in regulation to give men’s hockey a 4-3 win over Hamline on Friday night at the St. Thomas Ice Arena.
Barnes’ goal came a mere 44 seconds after Hamline (9-13-2 overall, 4-9-2 MIAC) forward Jaycob McCombs stuffed in a rebound to tie the game with 52 seconds left in the third period.
The victory, coupled with St. John’s loss to Gustavus, put the Tommies (15-8-1 overall, 10-4-1 MIAC) back on top of the MIAC standings, but coach Jeff Boeser was less than impressed with how his team played.
“We’re getting ourselves in trouble by taking penalties, and it’s going to come back and eventually haunt you if you keep taking them,” Boeser said. “We’re just making poor decisions out on the rink.”
St. Thomas took four penalties in the opening period, yet killed each one of them. The Tommies killed all eight penalties they incurred against the Pipers.
“(The penalty kill) is something we practice every week and really take pride in, it really comes from our mindset where we play defense first and go from there,” said sophomore defenseman Derek Olmschenk.
Despite sloppy play in the first period, first-year forward Gavin Payne was able to redirect Tommie defenseman Jake Zeleznikar’s slap shot attempt in for a power-play goal, giving the Tommies a 1-0 first period lead.
The pace of play opened up in the second period as Hamline immediately punched in a rebound goal on an odd-man rush, despite numerous acrobatic saves from St. Thomas goalie Benjamin Meyers.
Forward Jake Ahlgren added a second goal for the Tommies at the end of the second period when he deposited a back-hand goal past the Hamline goalie following a series of head fakes. Ahlgren’s goal was a precursor for more Tommie flair to come in the third period.
“Our team has a very high skill level. All of our forwards have top-end skill, and any night any of them can pop a few goals in the net,” Olmschenk said.
The Tommies came out buzzing in the early portion of the third period as forward Johnny Panvica scored his 14th goal of the season off a tic-tac-toe passing play set up by fellow forwards Barnes and Brett Gravelle.
Hamline responded with back-to-back goals, the latter coming with 52 seconds left in the game.
Despite heavy momentum leaning the Pipers’ way, St. Thomas was able to prevail after Barnes scored his goal in dramatic fashion.
“We’re just resilient and we won’t stop until the final buzzer,” Barnes said. “We’re pushing for a conference title. Everyone is in it together. We’ve got one more to win tomorrow and I think we’ve got it.”
The Tommies hit the road to take on Hamline on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. The Tommies can clinch a MIAC conference title with a win.
“We’re back in first, but that doesn’t mean anything if we don’t show up tomorrow,” Boeser said. “We control our own destiny again. It’s a good spot to be in.”
Kyle Manderfeld can be reached at man4052@stthomas.edu.