Midway through the third period Friday night at Anderson Arena, the St. Thomas men’s hockey team appeared well on its way to securing the job at hand — gaining control of their own destiny in the battle for the CCHA regular season championship.
Leading Augustana 3-1, the 15th-ranked Tommies seemed on the verge of moving into first place, two points ahead of idle Michigan Tech in the penultimate week of the season. In the end, Augustana had other plans.
The 18th-ranked Vikings scored with just over five minutes to play in regulation to make it a 3-2 game, then tied it in the final minute after pulling their goalie. They then won the shootout following three-on-three overtime for a 4-3 victory.
The Tommies came away with one point, which moved them into a tie for first with Michigan Tech, but the mood was somber on the home team’s side.
“We were just too loose,” St. Thomas coach Rico Blasi said of the sudden turn of events in the third period. “That’s a good hockey team. I thought it was a good game for 55 minutes, and then we lost our focus and they made us pay.”
The Vikings were a desperate team in the third period, and their added influx of intensity helped tilt the game in their favor.
“I think we got away from our game and it ended up giving them some momentum,” Tommies captain Lucas Wahlin. “It ended up biting us in the butt. We didn’t play a full 60 minutes.”
“Once the momentum swings in the other team’s favor, it’s often hard to get it back. “It think we’ve just got to stick together,” Wahlin said. “Obviously, there’s ups and downs in hockey games. That’s how it is every night. We’ve just got to come together even closer, and tonight we didn’t do that.”
The Vikings looked like a different team from the middle of the third period on. So did the Tommies.
“We had the puck on our stick a couple times and we just didn’t make the play,” Blasi said. “We didn’t execute.”
Trailing 1-0 after first period, the Tommies scored twice in the second period. Alexandros Gaffney took advantage of a Vikings turnover to score his 17th goal of the season at 6:07 of the period from in tight.
Then, with the teams playing four on four, Tommies defenseman Hayes Hundley collected his sixth of the season at 13:59 on a wrist shot from the slot.
When Wahlin scored on a power play at 6:07 of of the third period to give the Tommies a 3-1 lead, the Tommies looked they were going to eliminate the Vikings from the mix in the wild chase for the CCHA title.
Now, the Vikings are one point out of first, and are sure to have a lot of life on Saturday night.
As for what he wants his team to take from the loss heading into the weekend finale, Blasi said, “We have to take the first 55 minutes and finish the job.”
Wahlin had his own take.
“It’s a must win,” he said.
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