Mavericks 3, River Hawks 2 (updated)

It was a little tighter this time, but the Mavericks won again, scoring their first series sweep of the season. Chase Grant's goal at 5:48 of the third period broke a 2-2 tie and stood as the game-winner. Grant, who missed the Denver series with an injury also had an assist on Saturday for a four-point weekend.

UPDATE: Apparently, Grant's goal came on a Lowell clearing attempt that hit the freshman in the shin and rolled into the net between goalie Doug Carr's legs. "Good bounce, fortunate bounce for us," Mavericks coach Troy Jutting told USCHO.com

Kurt Davis and Zach Lehrke scored the other goals for Minnesota State, which ended its long road swing on a positive note. When the Mavericks return to Mankato, they will have put on 11,600 miles. But they went 3-4-1 (1-4-1 in WCHA) and are now 4-6-4 for the year.

"Anytime you can win a game on the road is a good thing," Jutting told The Free Press in a phone interview afterwards. "To sweep on the road, obviously, it's a good weekend. It's something to build on."

The Mavericks outshot the River Hawks 36-28, including a 20-11 advantage in the second period. Carr held MSU to just one goal in the second, however and the game was tied 1-1 going into the third.

The two teams traded three goals in the first six minutes with Davis putting MSU up 2-1 at 55 seconds, Riley Wetmore tying the game with a short-handed goal at 2:48 and Grant getting his fourth goal of the season after that.

Goalie Phil Cook stopped 26 shots for the Mavericks. Eriah Hayes also had an assist. Lehrke's goal was the first of his career. He had two assists on Friday for a three-point weekend.

The Mavericks went into the weekend hoping to improve its power play but didn't have a lot of chances. They went 1 for 3 on Friday and 0 for 2 on Saturday. Jutting said he liked what he saw, though.

"We moved it around well and got opportunities," he said. "It was better. It looked better."

Read the box score here. The USCHO recap can be found here. Read the Lowell Sun account of the game here, and The Free Press story here.