Mavericks 3, Huskies 0

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. It just got real: Minnesota State will play for the MacNaughton Cup on Saturday night after winning a tightly played, playoff-like game against a defensive-minded Michigan Tech team. Ferris State also won, which means the two teams could share the trophy and the regular-season championship, although MSU currently has the tiebreaker for seeing purposes. The Mavericks have never won a WCHA title. The closest they came was a tie for second in 2002-03 when they finished six points out of first. Last year, they were just four points out of first but in a three-way tie for fourth. "We still have to look at it as just another game," goalie Cole Huggins said. "We need to come out tomorrow better than we were tonight."

2. Floodgates open: The game was scoreless until the final 3:42 when the Mavericks scored three goals to end the game. Dylan Margonari redirected a great, heads-up slap pass from Stern to get the scoring started. It was a rare clean play allowed by Tech, which did a great job bottling up the Mavericks, especially their power play, which was scoreless on five chances, getting seven shots. "Stern and I were talking about the goal after the game and said it was like the Red Sea parted," Margonari said. "It was tape to tape." Two minutes later, Chase Grant made it 2-0, with 69 seconds remaining, Bryce Gervais added an empty-net goal.

3. Shutout City: Huggins didn't see a lot of action early on, as the Mavericks allowed just three shots in the first period, one being a dump-in from center ice. But the freshman goalie stayed focused and ended up with a 26-save shutout. It was Huggins' fifth shutout (and 17th win) of the season. He has shutouts in three of his last four starts, and the Mavericks have four shutouts in their last five games. Asked about the confidence the team has in Huggins, Grant said, "Obviously, it's through the roof. It's not just is ability on the ice. He 's just calm out there. He never looks out of sorts."

Deep thought: At game's end, the Mavericks were tied for 15th in the Pairwise Rankings.

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Ferris State 2, Lake Superior 1 ... Bowling Green 5, Bemidji State 3 ... Northern Michigan 4, Alabama Huntsville 1 ... Alaska 7, Alaska Anchorage 2

What was decided Saturday? Alaska clinched home ice and the No. 3 seed for the WCHA playoffs. Bowling Green and Alaska Anchorage secured playoff spots, leaving four teams — Northern Michigan, Bowling Green, Bemidji State and Lake Superior State — vying for three spots on Saturday night.