The Lindenwood men's ice hockey team defeated Davenport University 4-3 in a shootout Friday evening at the Patterson Ice Center in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The Lions got on the board at the 6:32 mark of the first period when Steve Brancheau netted a goal from Peppi Sipila and Kevin Walters. Lindenwood quickly went up 2-0 at the halfway point of the period when Brancheau set up Brandon Rumble for a power play tally.

The Panthers capitalized on a power play opportunity with eight minutes remaining in the opening frame. The man-advantage score snapped the Lions' streak of 28 consecutive penalty kills.

Stephen Bopp scored a power play goal with 14 minutes left in the second period. Walters and Rock Einersen assisted on the goal to put the Lions up 3-1.

Lindenwood let a two goal lead slip away when Davenport cut the lead to one in the final minutes of the second period and tied the game with eight seconds left in regulation after DU pulled to goaltender to gain an extra attacker.

The game remained tied after the sudden death overtime period, sending the game to a three-round shootout.

Brancheau scored for the Lions in the first round of the shootout but Davenport answered with their first shooter. Walters netted a goal in the second round while goaltender Cody Karpinski kept DU from scoring in the final two rounds of the shootout and lift the Lions over the Panthers with a 4-3 shootout win.

Lindenwood went 2-for-4 on the power play while the penalty killing unit held Davenport to one power play goal in five opportunities.

The victory was the Lions' fifth-straight win. Lindenwood improves to 11-13-2 overall while Davenport falls to 19-8-2.
The two teams conclude the two-game non-conference series at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday evening at the Patterson Ice Center in Grand Rapids Mich. In addition to the tough series at Davenport, the Lions wrap up the road trip to Michigan on Sunday afternoon with a matinee game at Adrian College.