Mavericks 6, Beavers 1

Pat Christman/The Free Press

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Surprising Stern: Sophomore defenseman Brett Stern scored his first college goal at 5:59 of the first period to start the Mavericks' onslaught. It came at a key time, too, because Bemidji State had a fast start that included a Grade A scoring chance that rookie goalie Stephon Williams stopped about 2 minutes in. Stern finished off a scramble in front of goalie Mathieu Dugas that started with is initial shot on goal. At that point, the tide had turned, and it was all MSU after that. Stern finished with a goal and an assist, doubling his career point total.

2. Dominating defense: It was easy to forget about the Beavers' fast start by the time the first period ended. At that point, the Mavericks had outshot BSU 18-2, and that 2 remained on the board until late in the second period. Bemidji attempted just seven shots in each of the first two periods, and by the time Matt Leitner scored to make it 4-0 with 3 minutes remaining in the second period, MSU had as many goals as the Beavers had shots on goal. After some major penalties in the third period, the final shot total ended up 32-18 in favor of the Mavericks.

3. Blueger plays big: Freshman center Teddy Blueger assisted on three power-play goals and now has eight points on the year. He set up Johnny McInnis, Chase Grant and Josh Nelson for goals, getting the second power-play unit to come through for the first time in awhile. For Grant, it was his first goal since getting a hat trick in the Mavericks' season-opening game at Alabama-Huntsville on Oct. 12. McInnis scored for the first time since Nov. 3 against Minnesota. "It's huge to have two good (power-play) units that can score," Blueger said.

Deep thought: A bit more on Williams, who has been in net throughout the win streak. He shut out Wisconsin and Bemidji State for 152 minutes, 18 seconds before the Beavers scored on the power play with 7:53 left in the third period on Saturday. For the year, he now has a .923 save percentage and a 1.92 goals-against average.

Read the The Free Press game story here.

Around the WCHA: Minnesota Duluth 4, Michigan Tech 4 (OT) ... Minnesota 3, Nebraska Omaha 2 ... North Dakota 3, Colorado College 2 (OT) ... Wisconsin 3, Denver 1 ... St. Cloud State at Alaska Anchorage (late)