Playing away from home has not prevented Breck from winning.

The Mustangs are an impressive 8-3 on the road this season, including a 5-2 victory over Independent Metro Athletic Conference rival St. Paul Academy at Drake Arena on Thursday. 

Senior forward Tyler Lindstrom scored two goals and added two assists in the win for Breck (14-6-0, 5-1-0), ranked No. 6 in the Class 1A coaches poll. 

The Mustangs had plenty of support in the stands, helping eliminate the home-ice advantage for the No. 7-1A Spartans (15-3-0, 3-1-0).

“(St. Paul Academy) had a lot of loud fans in here tonight, and it was nice to hear our fans go nuts every now and then,” Lindstrom said. 

The Breck fans cheered on a couple occasions for Lindstrom, who recorded the first multi-goal game of his varsity career. The Mustangs’ co-captain has four goals and 11 assists on the season, nearly matching his totals from last year when he finished with five goals and 12 assists.

Lindstrom, who also had a goal and eight assists playing for Team Northwest in the Upper Midwest High School Elite Hockey League this fall, said defeating the Spartans is extra exciting. 

“It feels good to get the win in a rivalry game,” Lindstrom added.

Breck's winning game plan included turning up the intensity on its stellar penalty kill, which is preventing opponents from scoring power-play goals at a rate of 87 percent.

“We came into this game trying to play (it) more aggressively than usual,” junior forward Tyler Scott said. 

Scott and junior forward Chase Ellingson are on the Mustangs’ top penalty kill unit, and the pair disrupted St. Paul Academy’s power play with relentless pressure to limit the Spartans to one goal on two power-play chances.

Scott’s contributions were not limited to the penalty kill. He tallied two assists, giving him 12 for the season and raising his point total to 25.

Lindstrom is one of four seniors on a Breck team featuring 13 underclassmen, and he said the lack of playing experience doesn’t impact the Mustangs’ performance.

“Our coach has said from the beginning that no one’s a freshman out there,” Lindstrom said. “We don’t think about (the team’s inexperience), we just play our game.”

Breck coach Les Larson said his hockey program holds all players - regardless of age - to a high standard of play, and that expectation is a key factor in the players’ development. 

“Even though we have a young team, by the time we get 10, 12 or 15 games under our belts, these kids aren’t rookies anymore,” Larson said. 

Senior defenseman Tyler Lindstrom had two goals and two assists to lead Breck to a 5-2 victory over St. Paul Academy in an Independent Metro Athletic Conference matchup Thursday night at Drake Arena.  

The Mustangs took a 1-0 lead with less than 6 minutes to play in the first period when Lindstrom blasted a slap shot past St. Paul Academy junior goalie David Nicholson. Lindstrom’s other goal was Breck’s third of the second period, giving the Mustangs a 4-1 lead and prompting the Spartans to replace Nicholson with freshman Andy Beran. Nelson finished with 15 saves and Beran had 13. 

Senior forward David Husband and junior forwards Chase Ellingson and Will Blake each scored a goal for Breck (14-6-0, 5-1-0), ranked No. 6 in the Class 1A coaches poll. Mustangs senior goalie Stephen Headrick made 15 saves as Breck outshot St. Paul Academy 33-17.

Junior defenseman Cullen McCabe and sophomore forward Riley Bowman had a goal apiece for the No. 7-1A Spartans (15-3-0, 3-1-0).

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