19 hours Ago By Jared Rubado
BEMIDJI – Jackson Jutting had himself a third period against St. Thomas on Saturday, and he didn’t record a point. The Bemidji State men’s hockey fifth-year captain won eight faceoffs in the final 20 minutes to help the Beavers close out a 2-1 win over St.
Thomas. Jutting won his final three draws, all of them coming in a 6-on-5 situation in the final 90 seconds. Jutting finished the game winning 17 of his 23 faceoffs, good enough for 73.
9%. It was far and away the highest win rate by any player on the Beavers. For Jutting, this wasn’t his reality a month ago.
Through three games, the BSU’s most reliable center won just 36.7% of his first 63 draws. He wasn’t alone.
At the time, BSU had the third-worst win-rate percentage in the country at 38.2%. Junior Reilly Funk had the highest individual win rate at 46.
2%. But during Bemidji State’s toughest month this season, with eight games against Minnesota State, Augustana, Minnesota and St. Thomas, the Beavers raised their collective team percentage to 49%.
“When you win faceoffs, it just does so much for you psychologically,” head coach Tom Serratore said. Faceoffs have a tendency to be undervalued, but Serratore is more than pleased with the 11.8% bump in the past month.
Bemidji State is now 39th in the country on draws, and the ripple effects are clear. The Beavers started the season below average on special teams. They converted on just 14.
3% of their power plays and killed off 75% of their penalty kills, which ranked among the worst in college hockey entering November. Now, as Bemidji State prepares to exit the month after a home-and-home series against No. 14 North Dakota, the percentages have improved.
The Beavers currently hold the 19th-best power play in the country at 22.4%. The penalty kill isn’t far behind at 80%, which is good for 29th.
“I look at 2018-19, 2021-22 – teams round that time – we were always top-three, top-four in the country on the penalty kill,” Serratore said. “Why? Well, Owen Sillinger sure helped it. He’s a 60-65% faceoff guy.
So when you put him over the boards, he wins a draw and there’s a clear, the time and momentum goes in your favor.” One trend BSU hasn’t bucked this season is its ability to stay disciplined. Bemidji State takes the eighth-fewest penalty minutes per game at 6.
9. It’s an important metric to track ahead of a two-game series against the Fighting Hawks, who hold the nation’s fourth-best power-play percentage at 29.3.
“We want to be disciplined,” Serratore said. “We pride ourselves on being hard-nosed, competitive and disciplined. Let’s just worry about the play between the whistles.
I don’t like B.S., I think it’s phony during the games.
You see so much of it, and I just roll my eyes. You can’t fight in college hockey, so let’s just play.” Despite the lopsided 5-37-7 head-to-head record against UND, games have been relatively close in recent years.
Each of the past six series had a game go to overtime, dating back to 2016. “We view every team and every opponent we play the same way,” fifth-year forward Carter Randklev said. “It’s super critical to have that outlook on games and not get caught up in playing nationally-ranked teams.
” “It’s a big rivalry,” junior forward Adam Flammang said. “We’re pretty close to each other, both teams play really hard and fast. It’s good, strong hockey.
It’ll be two tight games this weekend as well.” Serratore didn’t have much of an explanation as to why games between Bemidji State and North Dakota are traditionally close. But he did highlight the familiarity between the two former WCHA foes.
“It’s just college hockey,” Serratore said. “There’s a fine line between winning and losing. Look at all of our series, look at everybody in our league.
There’s overtime games, one-goal wins and losses, splits during the year. It’s just college hockey, and that’s the beauty of our sport. It’s hard to predict who’s going to win and lose.
” The Fighting Hawks (7-6-0) make their first trip to the Sanford Center on Friday since 2022 for a 7:07 p.m. puck drop.
The Beavers (6-6-1) head back to Ralph Engelstad Arena at 6:07 p.m. on Saturday for the series finale.
Friday’s game is expected to be sold out. “It’s always fun,” Flammang said. “When we played the Gophs, it was packed.
Last year when we played (Michigan) Tech and throughout the playoffs, it was packed. It’s always fun to play at home when it’s loud and there’s a lot of energy. The guys love it, for sure.
”.
