MSU 5, Colorado College 1

Freddy's three thoughts of the game:

First a clarification ... According to coach Troy Jutting, the move to start goalie Austin Lee was a coach's decision. Cook was not sick. Jutting called it a "one of those coach's hunches," and it worked. "Austin had a good week of practice," the coach said. "He had great rebound control and a couple nice saves in the first period." Lee finished with 21 saves.

1. Sick and hurt:  Chase Grant watched from the press box with an illness. Rylan Galiardi and Zach Lehrke got hurt in the first period and couldn't play. But Minnesota State's patchwork lineup found a way to score five goals and defeat the 19th-ranked Tigers. Eriah Hayes scored two goals, and Justin Jokinen, Mike Dorr and Mike Louwerse had the others. Andrew Sackrison had two assists, and Dorr also had an assist for a two-point game. "I thought our older guys came to play," Jutting said. "Jocks, Eriah and Louie -- guys who needed to chip in did -- and Mike Dorr."

2. No comeback: The Mavs held a tenuous 2-0 lead after two periods, and we all know what they've done with those against ranked teams from time to time. Just 1:46 into the third period, CC scored off a faceoff to make it a 2-1 game. They had their wheels rolling for a few moments after that, too. But MSU weathered the storm and got a goal from Hayes just about four minutes later to make it a two-score game again. "When they got that first one, we knew we weren't going to have (a comeback) happen against us again," Hayes said. "The guys really brought it after that."

3. Discovering power: Minnesota State finished 2 for 4 on the power play, marking the first time it scored two power-play goals in a game since Dec. 10. The Mavs mixed things up a bit, putting Joe Schiller on the power play and moving Dorr down low. The plan worked on the the Mavs' second goal of the game as Kurt Davis made a perfect pass to Dorr at the left post, and Dorr made a nice move toward the net and slid the puck behind Joe Howe, a goalie who has two career shutouts against Minnesota State.

Finally, there's quite a logjam in the race for home ice in the WCHA standings. The Mavericks' win puts them in a tie for ninth place with St. Cloud State (MSU has the head-to-head advantage) They're one point behind eighth-place Minnesota and two points behind sixth-place CC and Alaska-Anchorage. See the standings here.

See Friday night's box score here.