The men’s hockey team stayed in the playoff picture with a 4-3 road win over St. Olaf Friday. Senior goaltender Joe Schraeder had 28 saves in net.

The Tommies had a testing January, going 3-4-1 but staying in the playoff hunt with three regular season games remaining.

The team started the month with a four game winless streak before splitting a double-header against MIAC-leading Hamline and sweeping a double-header against St. Mary’s.

“We started off a little slow but picked it up toward the end … so that was good,” Schraeder said.

With a conference record of 6-5-2, the team is currently tied for third in the MIAC with four playoff spots up for grabs.

“We’re looking at them [remaining regular season games] as playoff games,” Schraeder said. “Once we’re in the playoffs, we’re looking to win the whole thing and try to move on as far as we can.”

Senior forward Parker Burgess said the increased sense of urgency to end regular season games will be great preparation for the playoffs.

“It’s good that these games are meaningful for us because it’s going to make us battle-tested going into the playoffs,” Burgess said. “We’re going to be playing some good hockey teams and some intense games here, and that’ll just help us down the road when we do go to the playoffs.”

The Tommies will finish the regular season with the second game of a double-header against St. Olaf Saturday at 7 p.m. and a double-header with Bethel Feb. 12 and 13.

“It should be interesting next games,” Burgess said. “We’re excited to get going here.

Brent Fischer can be reached at bafischer@stthomas.edu