St. Cloud State Men’s hockey was in action Saturday night against the Colorado College Tigers at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, where they were looking to snap a 12 game winless streak.

Unlike many times in the winless drought, it would be the Huskies getting on the board first. After the Huskies’ second line found some lengthened zone time, Sophomore forward Barett Hall found the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season. It appeared transfer defenseman Josh Zinger doubled the lead on a powerplay minutes later, but after a lengthy review, it was determined the play was offside. So, the aforementioned Barett Hall took matters into his own hands, scoring his second of the night to double the lead, this time with no review needed. Resulting in all that action was naturally more high octane play, with a four minute push from the Tigers resulting in Brett Larson and his coaching staff deciding to use their timeout. That decision would be rewarded, as less than a minute later, a savvy play from Austin Burnevik tripled the lead, which would hold heading into the first break. As it stood it was the first time the Huskies had held a three goal lead since they played in Michigan last October.

Now tasked with protecting a rare three-goal lead, the Huskies found that the Tigers still had some fight left in them. Over the middle of 20, the Colorado College squad outshot the Huskies 16-6 and found the back of the net twice via Zaccharya Wisdom and Scott Fisher. That blow would be softened a bit when the Huskies scored the elusive fourth goal via Gavyn Thoreson, making it 4-2 heading into the third period. Of note, the Huskies were 9-1 when holding a lead entering the third period.

So, with that, the Huskies continued to prove that hockey is a game of trends. Despite continuing to be hemmed into their own zone by the Tigers, and with the shot totals pushing to 44-20 in favor of the Colorado Springs team, the Huskies held strong. In what was a 42-save performance from Sophomore goaltender Isak Posch, the streak finally came to an end. Afterwards, the Huskies named Austin Burnevik, Isak Posch, and Barett Hall the three stars of the game.

After the game, St. Cloud State Head Coach Brett Larson was happy to put the rough stretch behind him, saying this of his team’s response: “We hit a low point in Western (Michigan), we got outscored 10-1, right? That felt different from the rest of the streak. They were a better team, they outplayed us, and it hurt. And you thought maybe that’s what would sink this team. The thing that knocked these guys down, but it didn’t. And that says a lot about these guys and the character in the room.”

Up Next: The Huskies will fly out to Denver, Colorado next weekend to take on the defending national champion Denver Pioneers. Friday’s contest is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. CST, with Alexander Fern and Brian Moos on the call. You can find both games online at kvsc.org, or on the main airways 88.1 FM.