Friday, December 11, 2015

Friday Morning Skate

The Mavericks will close out the 2015 calendar, as well as finals week and a stretch of 10 straight weekends of play since the start of the year, on Friday and Saturday when they host Alabama Huntsville for a WCHA series.

Minnesota State will try to keep a few different streaks alive this weekend, including their current seven-game unbeaten streak, Huntsville's eight-game winless streak, along with a 16-game unbeaten streak against the Chargers that dates back to the 2001-02 season.

One player who's on a hot streak for the Mavericks is junior forward Michael Huntebrinker, who has a point in his last six games. Huntebrinker really seems to be coming into his own this season, comfortable and confident as MSU's No. 2 center.

Read more about the series in The Free Press' College Hockey Gameday.

Huntsville is coming off a loss and tie at home to Northern Michigan. It was 17 seconds away from overtime on Friday when the Wildcats scored the game-winner on a penalty shot.

Going around the WCHA:

• Ferris State at Northern Michigan: The Bulldogs and the Wildcats sit fourth and fifth, respectively, in the WCHA standings, separated by two points. Ferris State has gotten two points out of every league weekend, while Northern Michigan has played four overtimes in its last six games and seven total this season.

• Michigan Tech at Lake Superior State: How mad are the Huskies going to be for this one after dropping two games at home to Alaska Anchorage last weekend. The Lakers are on a little bit of a run, having won three straight games and going unbeaten in five of their last six.

• Bowling Green at Bemidji State: Following two ties with Minnesota State that extended their unbeaten streak to seven games, the Falcons are on the road for the first time in a month and taking on the Beavers, who are unbeaten in five of their last seven games. The series allows two old friends to square off against each other.

• Alaska at Alaska Anchorage: The first games of the Governor's Cup rivalry will take place in Anchorage where the Seawolves are coming off that impressive sweep in Houghton. Now, they hope to get an edge in a trophy series they haven't won in six years. The Nanooks, meanwhile, will use the rivalry as motivation to try to end a seven-game winless streak.

Read more about the league this week in Jack Hittinger's and my USCHO column. And check out our predictions for the weekend, too.

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