Today is Saturday, March 1, the 60th day of 2025. There are 304 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On March 1, 2005, Dennis Rader, the churchgoing family man accused of leading a double life as the BTK serial killer, was charged in Wichita, Kansas, with 10 counts of first-degree murder. (Rader later pleaded guilty and received multiple life sentences.)

Also on this date:

In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, making Yellowstone the nation’s first national park.

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In 1932, Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was kidnapped from the family home in East Amwell Township, New Jersey. (Remains identified as those of the child were found two months later.)

In 1954, four Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the spectators gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five members of Congress.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order establishing the Peace Corps; since its establishment, over 240,000 Americans have served as Peace Corps volunteers.

In 1966, the Soviet space probe Venera 3 made contact with the surface of Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to reach another planet. Venera was unable to transmit any data, however, because its communications system failed.

In 1971, a bomb went off inside a men’s room at the U.S. Capitol. The radical group Weather Underground claimed responsibility for the pre-dawn blast, which damaged the building but resulted in no injuries.

In 1974, seven people, including former Nixon White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman; former Attorney General John Mitchell; and former assistant Attorney General Robert Mardian, were indicted by a grand jury on charges of conspiring to obstruct justice in connection with the Watergate break-in. (These four defendants were convicted in January 1975, though Mardian’s conviction was later reversed.)

Today’s birthdays:

Rock singer Roger Daltrey is 81.
Actor Dirk Benedict is 80.
Sen, Deb Fischer, R-Neb., is 74.
Filmmaker Ron Howard is 71.
Actor Tim Daly is 69.
Hockey Hall of Famer Ron Francis is 62.
Filmmaker Zack Snyder is 59.
Actor Javier Bardem is 56.
Basketball Hall of Famer Yolanda Griffith is 55.
Basketball Hall of Famer Chris Webber is 52.
Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar is 51.
Actor Jensen Ackles is 47.
Actor Lupita Nyong’o is 42.
Pop singer Kesha is 38.
Pop singer Justin Bieber is 31.

In the end, the moment spoke for itself.

So Matthew Volkman didn’t waste a lot of words describing a goal – and a game – Stillwater hockey fans will remember for many years to come.

The Ponies senior forward completed a hat trick when he scored the game-winner with 16:01 remaining in the second overtime Friday night, lifting second-seeded Stillwater past top seed Hill-Murray 4-3 in the Section 4-2A title game at a raucous, sold-out Aldrich Arena.

“I got the puck on the wall, saw I had a shot and took it,” Volkman said matter-of-factly. “The rest is history.”

Indeed it is.

The victory earned the Ponies their first state tournament berth since 2016, and just the third overall in program history (the first came in 2014).

And, as with those other two trips to state, the road there this season ran through Hill-Murray in the section final.

“This was more than just a game,” said a smiling Volkman, whose team advances to the Class 2A state quarterfinals Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center against an opponent to be determined when pairings are announced Saturday morning.

“The whole town has been waiting for this, and we’re not done yet.”

That wasn’t quite as clear early on Friday. The Pioneers struck first when senior Mr. Hockey finalist Boden Sampair – who had three goals in the first period when Hill-Murray defeated Stillwater 3-1 during the regular season – scored with 15:17 to go before the first intermission.

But while the Pioneers held a 16-4 edge in shots-on-goal in the period, they could not score again, and the their lead remained at 1-0.

“We missed some chances which gave them the opportunity to believe,” said Hill-Murray coach Bill Lechner, whose team finished its season 24-3-1 overall. “Then they went out and took advantage of it.”

Stillwater did come out smoking to start the second period, tying the score when sophomore Luca Jarvis scored with 14:08 remaining. Less than two minutes later, Volkman found the net, then did so again with 2:01 to go before the break.

That sent the Ponies – who had a 14-8 edge in shots-on-goal in the second period – into the locker rooms up 3-1.

“In the second period, we got to our game plan,” Stillwater coach Greg Zanon said. “In the first period, they overwhelmed us. I think we had a lot of nerves. We’ve never been in this moment and they have. But we were able to overcome that and get going.”

The Ponies’ nerves weren’t done being tested, though.

Their lead was shaved to one when Sampair scored his second goal of the night with 5:23 remaining. Then the Pioneers went on the power play with 3:41 left on the clock, setting the stage for a power-play goal by senior Graham Greeder with 2:15 to go.

That sent the game to a first overtime in which both teams had chances to put it away but couldn’t.

“When we got to overtime, I felt like our momentum would continue,” Lechner said. “But it wasn’t meant to be. We had our chances. It just didn’t work out. But I’m proud of the way our kids battled.”

Stillwater senior goalie Cal Conway – a transfer from Andover – finished the night with 36 saves.

“I’m a pretty chill guy and I trust the players in front of me,” Conway said. “I know they’re going to score goals and that’s what they did tonight.”

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Led by Volkman, who ended things less than a minute into the second overtime.

“The message (to our guys) was just keep it simple, and any chance you can, get the puck to the net,” Zanon said. “It’s overtime and anything can happen. Get a funny bounce here or there and it works out.”

It certainly did Friday, sending the Ponies to state for the first time in nine years.

“I’m just so happy right now,” Volkman said. “I love this team so much … and we’re not done yet.”

DENVER — Minnesota Wild fans enter March, and the stretch run toward the NHL playoffs, hoping that six weeks from now, they won’t look back at Friday’s game at Colorado as a microcosm.

The Wild were among the hottest teams in the league one-third of the way through the season but have hit a rough patch as injuries continue to take a toll. Similarly, on Friday they twice took the lead versus the Avalanche early, only to see things go south in a 5-2 loss — their third in a row.

Perhaps most significantly, the win by the Avalanche now has them tied with Minnesota for third place in the Central Division with one game remaining between the two teams, although the Wild have played one fewer game than Colorado.

Mats Zuccarello and Vinnie Hinostroza scored first-period goals for Minnesota, which led 2-1 after 20 minutes, but from there, things turned sour quickly.

Filip Gustavsson had 25 saves for the Wild, who had split their first two games with Colorado this season, with the road team winning both. They close out the season series March 11 in St. Paul.

Minnesota, which had played from behind all night 24 hours earlier in a 6-1 loss at Utah, stuck first on Friday when Zuccarello found himself uncovered in front of the Colorado net. Marcus Johansson fed him a pass, and Zuccarello popped a shot past Mackenzie Blackwood for his 13th goal of the season. For Zuccarello, it snapped a 10-game streak without a goal dating back to Jan. 25, when he scored in a 5-4 home loss to Calgary.

Colorado evened the score on its first power play of the game, but Minnesota’s man advantage unit had an answer, as Hinostroza redirected a Brock Faber shot past Blackwood to give the visitors a 2-1 lead after one period. For Hinostroza, it was his third goal in six games with the Wild since being claimed off waivers from Nashville in early February.

But Colorado’s offense came to life in a second period that turned out to be disastrous for the Wild.

The Avalanche victimized Gustavsson twice in 52 seconds to take their first lead of the game, then extended it when a Wild pinch at the far blue line touched off a 2-on-1 rush by Colorado. Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin got a piece of the puck in front of Gustavsson, but not enough to thwart the play, and Ross Colton scored to put the home team up 4-2.

Colorado outshot Minnesota 13-5 in the period, which included a shift where a pair of Wild defenders were stuck on the ice for three minutes each.

Brodin only played one shift in the third period, then headed down the tunnel and left the game. Colorado added an empty net power play goal with 8 seconds to play.

Back-to-back penalties on Colorado at the start of the third gave the Wild four minutes of power play time, but the opportunity was wasted as they failed to get a shot on Blackwood or dent the Avalanche lead.

Blackwood finished with 19 saves for Colorado.

Minnesota juggled defensemen before the game, as Zach Bogosian was scratched with a lower body injury ( he is considered day to day). Jon Merrill, who had been a healthy scratch the previous two games, returned to the Wild blue line.

They also made one change at forward, with Brendan Gaunce back in the lineup for the first time since a 4-0 win at Carolina on Jan. 4. Devin Shore was the healthy scratch to open a spot for Gaunce.

For Bogosian, it was the first game he has missed this season.

The Wild play 15 games in March, 11 of them at home, starting on Sunday when the Boston Bruins make their lone visit to Xcel Energy Center this season. It is a 2:30 p.m. puck drop as Minnesota looks to avenge a 3-0 loss in Boston on Feb. 4.

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When asked if he’s ever had a bigger goal, Will Dosan said he didn’t think so, but noted he’s got three games to go in his high school career.

That’s because he was in the right spot at the right time.

The senior captain netted the game-winner with 3:15 left in double-overtime and St. Thomas Academy beat Cretin-Derham Hall 3-2 Friday in the Class 2A, Section 3 final at a sold-out Braemar Arena.

With almost everyone on their feet who was able, Gus Olson took a shot from near the boards and Dosan was just outside the blue paint to slam home the rebound for the far bigger of his two goals.

It’s the third straight year the schools have met for the section title. Cretin-Derham Hall won the previous two.

“St. Thomas has a lot of tradition, we got back to it and we’re going to the state tournament,” Dosan said.

Making its first appearance since 2021, the Cadets (23-5-0) will begin play Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center. Seedings and brackets are to be announced Saturday morning.

Marcus Matyas scored with 13.7 seconds left in regulation to tie the game and Nate Chorlton also scored for Cretin-Derham Hall (23-4-1), looking for its fourth straight state tournament berth.

Coach Matt Funk said the message to his team was to keep playing their game and get pucks behind the St. Thomas Academy defense and to the net.

“I thought it was going to take a bounce, anything to beat a good goaltender. We had two of the best goalies in the state out there tonight. … This one’s going to sting for a while but at the end of the day it was just an awesome hockey game.”

Cody Niesen made 41 saves for St. Thomas Academy; Owen Nelson matched that number for Cretin-Derham Hall

Down 2-1 with the goalie pulled, Cretin-Derham Hall hit two posts in a 20-second span in the final minute in regulation. With the offensive pressure maintained Jonny Bloedow had the puck on his stick in front of the St. Thomas Academy student section.

His pass across went to found Matyas all alone in the right circle and the sophomore hammered home a one-timer.

“We were definitely down a little bit, but our leaders stepped up and we fought through it,” said defenseman Pat Cronin. “In the first overtime we kind of turned the tide in the second half then came out hard in the second one.”

Even though both teams entered averaging at least five goals per game, a low-scoring affair was to be expected with each team also sporting a stingy defense. St. Thomas Academy entered the night allowing a mere 1.59 goals per game, Cretin-Derham Hall 1.70.

St. Thomas Academy took a 2-1 lead midway through the second period.

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On the penalty kill, Will Dosan, a Princeton-commit, perfectly read a Cretin-Derham Hall pass, picking it off in his own end. Taking off the other way with nothing but white ice between he and the goal, Dosan made a couple forehand-to-backhand-to-forehand moves before scoring low for a 2-1 advantage.

Chorlton, a Colorado College commit, scored on a quick wrister from the slot midway through the first period for a 1-0 Raiders’ lead, but St. Thomas answered just over four minutes later with the Harvard-bound Michael Mikan scoring from near the same spot at the other end during a 5-on-3 power play.