DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica Saints men's hockey team may be preparing for their first ever NCAA tournament appearance, but after playing the Wis.-Stout Blue Devils three times already this season, they may know exactly what to expect come Saturday night in Menomonie, Wis. 

Second chances do exist.
Just ask the St. Scholastica Saints Men's Hockey team, who, despite missing out on the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament received from winning the NCHA Peter's Cup Tournament, was voted in for a berth and will face the team that knocked them out of the NCHA playoffs, Wis.-Stout, this Saturday. 

The Blue Devils then edged the top-seeded Wis.-Superior Yellowjackets in the finals to claim their first ever NCHA tournament championship and maintain a fourteen-game unbeaten streak. The Devils also became the second team in the NCHA – along with CSS – to earn a victory over Superior this season. 

The Saints and Blue Devils last met in the NCHA semifinals less than two weeks ago. The score was tied for nearly three-quarters of the 60-minute match-up, with both teams scoring quickly after their opponent had taken the lead; the Saints netted their first just four minutes after the Devils in the opening frame, while the Devils re-tied the score less than a minute later when the Saints took a third-period lead. 

Stout took the final 3-2 lead with just over six minutes remaining in the contest, but, despite taking more shots than Stout in the final frame, the Saints could not overcome the streaking Blue Devils. 

Familiar Foes and Similar Squads
The Saints and Blue Devils have played three times this season, splitting the meetings with a win, a tie, and a loss each. The games were close outside of a 5-2 victory for the Saints in their first match-up, but the Devils were without their starting goaltender Matt Koenig (Sr.-Lakeland, Minn.), who held the Saints offense to just four total goals in his two games agaisnt CSS this season. 

Before their last meeting, head coach Mark Wick explained that the Saints would need to play well defensively and maintain discipline emotionally as well as in their systems. It would also be important to play five-on-five hockey, because as strong as the Saints have played on special teams, the Blue Devils have a slight advantage. 

Both teams are allowing goals on only about 15 percent of opposing power plays, but Stout has a slight edge, making good on 25 percent of their own man-advantages while the Saints are at 22 percent. Luckily for the Saints, they took the least amount of penalties in-conference this season while Stout was fourth. 

The similarities do not end there; Stout and Scholastica were second and third, respectively, in team shots among NCHA teams. Stout outscored CSS 123 goals to 101 on the season, but CSS goaltenders allowed a conference-low 56 goals while Stout allowed 77. Both teams were also in the top four in the NCHA for saves and save percentage. 

Neither of the two teams have one prolific scorer that leads their offense. No, both teams actually have several. For Stout, the leaders of the offense are Derek Hanson (Jr.-Bemidji, Minn.) and Joel Gaulrapp (Jr.-Owatonna, Minn.) who each have over 40 points on the season, including a league-high 20 goals from Gaulrapp. The Blue Devils have ten additional double-digit scorers. 

CSS has four players within three points of the team scoring title, but two-time scoring leader #AJ Tucker# (Sr.-Fort Frances, Ont.) leads the way with 31 points. #Joey Martini# (Sr.-Calgary, Alta.) and #Jeremy Dawes# (Fr.-Winnipeg, Man.) are right behind him with 30 and 29 points, respectively. CSS has ten total double-digit scorers. 

All good things…
The Saints entered their January 23rd match-up against Stout on a ten-game winning streak which was highlighted by a 7-2 victory over Wis.-Superior just one week earlier, but they ran into a stout defense led by NCHA Honorable Mention goaltender Matt Koenig who held the Saints from scoring after the first period despite allowing 39 shots on net. 

The Blue Devils enter the NCAA tournament on a nine-game winning streak highlighted by a 4-3 victory over Wis.-Superior one week ago, and now, they face a strong defensive team led by All-NCHA goaltender #Steve Bounds# (Sr.-Airdrie, Alta.) who took them to the edge in a tournament game two weeks ago and allowed them just 24 shots on net. 

The Saints will hope to do one better than their NCHA rival and snap their streak with a victory over the Blue Devils which would send the Saints to the NCAA Frozen Four in Lake Placid, N.Y. The puck drops on the ice sheet at the Dunn County Ice Arena in Menomonie, Wis. at 7:05 p.m. this Saturday. If you can't be at the game, you can listen to the action on the radio home of the St. Scholastica Saints, ESPN Radio 560 – WEBC.