Mavericks 3, Gophers 2

Trevor Cokley/The Free Press

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Kill comes through: Minnesota State gave up a late power-play goal in its loss to St. Cloud State in the North Star College Cup semifinals and, against Minnesota took two late penalties while holding on to a one-goal lead. In the third-place game, however, MSU killed off the penalties (they had allowed two power-play goals earlier in the game) to win the season rubber match with the Gophers. It was a special-teams game, with each team scoring a 5-on-3 power-play goal and the Mavericks getting the game-winner from Teddy Blueger on the power play. Only the game's first goal — credited to Blueger but essentially an own-goal for Minnesota — was even strength. MSU ended up 2 for 5 on the power play, and the Gophers were 2 for 6.

2. Huggins gets the nod: Mavericks coach Mike Hastings used a little self-deprecating humor when talking about starting Cole Huggins in goal. Huggins was the WCHA's Defensive Player of the Week after allowing one goal in two games against Lake Superior State a week ago. Freshman Jason Pawloski got the start against St. Cloud State and was pulled after allowing three goals (Huggins ended up taking the loss in the 5-4 game). Huggins stopped 21 of 23 shots against the Gophers, including a big partial 2-on-0 breakaway when it was  Bua 2-2 game in the third period. "I thought that was big," Hasting said of Huggins' bounce back. "He played two games for us last weekend and the genius coach plays the other guy? But I thought Pawloski’s done a really good job of leading us here over the last two months, earned his opportunity. And then Huggins came in and played well. I thought he played really well, especially, in the third period, giving us some penalty kill saves." Watch comments from Huggins below:



3. Centers of attention: Blueger finished the game with two goals and an assist, and was a factor all over the ice. "As the season progresses, teams that are successful late have their leaders do a lot of heavy lifting, and I thought Teddy Blueger really forced himself on the game, especially in the third period," Hastings said. "And not just the goal that he scored. I thought, coming out of our end, he played with some poise, didn’t throw the puck around and create opportunities for them." Meanwhile, C.J. Franklin continued his hot streak, scoring a wicked power-play goal and assisting on Blueger's game-winner. He now leads MSU with 11 goals and has eight points in his last four games. Blueger now has 24 points to lead the Mavericks in scoring. He's three points away from 100 for his career.

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Michigan Tech took three of four points at Bowling Green to tighten up the top of the WCHA standings. MSU leads Bowling Green by two points (and the two teams play in Mankato next weekend), and Tech is in third place, four points out of first. ... Alabama Huntsville and Alaska Anchorage split their series in Anchorage. ... Alaska got swept in a nonconference series at Wisconsin. ... Northern Michigan split a nonconference home series against Minnesota Duluth.

MSU vs. Minnesota, North Star Cup 3rd-place game

Join the conversation in the live chat below today's lines.

MINNESOTA STATE
26-Margonari, 23-Blueger, 10-Knutson
25-Stepan, 15-Franklin, 19-McClure
24-Knowles, 17-Huntebrinker, 12-Coatta
9-Gervais, 27-Schwalbe, 14-Mullin

28-Jutzi, 5-Foguth
8-Brickley, 6-C. Nelson
11-Flanagan, 21-Vanko

34-Huggins
39-Pawloski

Scratches: Cooper, Lewis, Madry, A. Nelson, J. Nelson, Schmeisser

MINNESOTA
18-Bristedt, 17-Novak, 24-Fasching
21-Reilly, 2-Kloos, 22-Sheehy
10-Gates, 19-Lettieri, 13-Cammarata
26-Romanko, 23-Norman, 15-Michaelson

28-Bischoff, 20-Brodzinski
11-Seeler, 3-Glover
4-Johnson, 2-Sadek

37-Schierhorn
34-Lehr
1-Kautz

Huskies 5, Mavericks 4

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Fears realized: Minnesota State's penalty kill has been very good over the last 2 1/2 months, but the Mavericks were worried about St. Cloud State's phenomenal power play, which came in clicking at better than 30 percent. MSU was right to be worried, as the Huskies scored three times on four power-play chances. The Huskies whipped the puck around the zone pretty good, waiting for just the right opportunity for a back-door play. Two of the goals came that way, with the finish going into a yawing net. The second of those was Jimmy Murray's game-winner with 3:19 left in the third, which broke a 4-4 tie. "I thought it was a good hockey game, but when you take penalty with five minutes left, you’re playing Russian roulette, and they’ve got more than one bullet in that gun," MSU coach Mike Hastings said.

2. Offensive spark: The Mavericks did continue the goal-scoring trend of the previous weekend at home against Lake Superior State. C.J. Franklin, Brad McClure and Zach Stepan (all of whom were on the same line) each had a goal and an assist. Dylan Margonari scored MSU's other goal. Casey Nelson had two assists. "We’ve been focusing on trying to become a better offensive hockey team," Hastings said. "I thought we made some plays today. (We) scored a power-play goal and created some offense coming through the neutral zone … We have to continue to become better offensively. I think we can clean up the details as far as special teams ,as far as killing penalities. I think we’re getting better. We just need to keep pushing that envelope."

3. Hanging in there: MSU captain Carter Foguth said the Mavericks could take some solace in the fact that they skated right with the third-ranked Huskies, especially after getting shut out by them twice in October. The Mavericks outshot the Huskies 33-22 and outscored them 3-2 in even-strength play. "All I can say is: That was a tough one," Foguth said. "There wasn't much to be said when we got to the (locker) room. For them being No. 3 in the country, I thought we stood with them, and there were times we took it to them." Still, it was St. Cloud State's seventh consecutive victory over Minnesota State. The last time the Mavericks beat the Huskies was Nov. 11, 2011.

Deep thought: Attendance for Saturday's games was 12,592. The crowd was pretty sparse for the first game, so the move from Friday-Saturday late afternoons/evenings to Saturday-Sunday afternoons doesn't look like it made a big difference.

MSU vs. St. Cloud State, North Star Cup

The Mavericks and the Huskies will kick off the North Star College Cup at 1 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center. Follow the live chat below tonight's lines.

MINNESOTA STATE
26-Margonari, 23-Blueger, 10-Knutson
25-Stepan, 15-Franklin, 19-McClure
24-Knowles, 17-Huntebrinker, 12-Coatta
9-Gervais, 13-Madry, 14-Mullin

28-Jutzi, 5-Foguth
8-Brickley, 6-C. Nelson
11-Flanagan, 27-Schwalbe

39-Pawloski
34-Huggins

Scratches: Cooper, Lewis, A. Nelson, J. Nelson, Schmeisser, Vanko

ST. CLOUD STATE
19-Eyssimont, 11-Kossila, 63-Russell
9-Benik, 13-Morley, 14-Newell
21-Murray, 18-Peterson, 10-Papa
23-Jackson, 42-Winiecki, 17-Benson

22-Schuldt, 12-Prow
5-Widman, 20-Borgen
7-Nevalainen, 16-Lizotte

35-Lindgren
45-Reijola
30-Zevnik

Saturday Morning Skate

It's North Star College Cup time. This tournament doesn't have the vibe of Boston's Beanpot yet, but it seems to be growing. We'll see if the new Saturday-Sunday format draws in more people, especially for the early game Saturday. That 4 p.m. Friday game could be tough for the out-of-towners.

Minnesota State doesn't have a lot of Minnesotans on its roster, but one of its top players is from the North Star State. C.J. Franklin, who is coming off his best weekend of the season, grew up in Forest Lake, not far from St. Paul, and his early childhood experience on a turkey farm might explain why his such a hard worker.

Read The Free Press' College Hockey Gameday preview for more on the tournament.

The 19th-ranked Mavericks will take on St. Cloud State, which shut them out twice back in October in St. Cloud. The third-ranked Huskies won't be an easy out. Interestingly, the St. Cloud Times' Mick Hatten wrote about Blake Winiecki, who has changed positions to center, not unlike Franklin for the Mavericks. The only difference is Franklin did it last week, while Winiecki has been there most of the season.

The other matchup pits Minnesota against Bemidji State, and the 20th-ranked Gophers are hoping to improve their showing against other teams in the state. That's certainly all the talk in the Twin Cities. They have one win, the 4-0 shutout in Mankato in November, in their last 11 games against their cousins. The next night, MSU came from behind to win 3-2 in overtime.

In the WCHA on Friday night, Michigan Tech and Bowling Green tied 4-4 in a wildly entertaining game. Northern Michigan got a rare win for a WCHA team over an NCHC team, beating Minnesota Duluth 4-3. Alaska went to Wisconsin and lost 4-3. Alabama Huntsville won 2-1 at Alaska Anchorage.

Friday Morning Skate

Coverage on Minnesota State at the North Star College Cup will be available on Saturday morning, but the weekend begins today with some other WCHA teams in action.

A lot of eyes will be on a big series between Bowling Green and Michigan Tech. In the we're-still-getting-used-to-this-even-in-year-three world of the new WCHA, the Falcons and the Huskies have developed a nice rivalry, not unlike Bowling Green and Minnesota State, Minnesota State and Ferris State, Ferris State and Bemidji State, etc. Even MSU's rivalry with Michigan Tech, both being in the old WCHA together, has grown since realignment.

This is a tough, two-week stretch for Bowling Green, which hosts Tech this weekend and then travels to Mankato for a set against MSU next weekend.

In another league matchup, Alabama Huntsville goes to Alaska Anchorage where Seawolves have a walk-on, who is making a real impact.

There's a lot of nonconference play this weekend with Alaska going to Wisconsin and Northern Michigan hosting Minnesota Duluth, along with the North Star Cup involving MSU and Bemidji State on Saturday and Sunday in St. Paul. Here's some early coverage of that tournament:

• From the St. Cloud Times' Mick Hatten: The Mavericks are wary (and I can vouch for this) of St. Cloud State's explosive power play, even if if they do have have one of the country's better penalty kills.

• From the Bemidji Pioneer's Jack Hittinger: The Beavers go into the North Star Cup as both the defending champion and as the big underdog.

Read more WCHA coverage from Hittinger and me in our USCHO column and see us match wits with our weekend picks.

Mavs get Tri-City recruit

Excited to announce my commitment to Minnesota State Mankato, thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way #mavs

— Walker Duehr (@walker_hockey5) January 27, 2016

Minnesota State received a verbal commitment this week from Walker Duehr, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound right wing for the Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League.

Duehr, 18, a native of Sioux Falls, S.D., has six goals and 12 points in 14 games this season. He missed the first part of the season while rehabilitating an offseason knee surgery. He's described on the Storm's website as a "powerful, hard-skating forward with a wicked shot."

“He’s been through a lot and battled hard to get back,” Storm head coach and general manager Bill Muckalt said in a team press release. “Walker has made a real impact on our team. We’re looking forward to continue working with him to get ready for college hockey. He has a bright future.”

Duehr, who played for the Sioux City Musketeers last season, is cousins with Mavericks sophomore forward Zeb Knutson.

“It feels great to know the next step in my hockey career,” Duehr said in the release. “It’s nice to know I’ll have a home for four years.”

Minot player, West grad is NAHL All-star

Former Mankato West High School player Derek Frentz was selected to play in the North American Hockey League’s Top Prospects Tournament, the league’s All-Star event, which will take place Feb. 15-16 in Plymouth, Mich.

Frentz, who is in his second year of junior hockey in the NAHL, has 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points in 38 games for the Minot Minotauros. Last season, he played for the now-defunct Michigan Warriors where he had 23 points in 54 games.

He is one of three Mankato-area players on the Minot roster this season. The others are defenseman and West grad Max Mettler (10 assists in 34 games) and forward and East alum Grayson Gavin (three goals and eight points in 29 games).

Meanwhile, another West grad, Cole Filler, was named rookie of the week in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League on Monday after helping his Melville Millionaires to a pair of wins with two goals and two assists. Filler has 11 goals and 17 assists in 40 games this season.

Mavs players honored, Lakers player suspended

Minnesota State forward C.J. Franklin and goaltender Cole Huggins received player of the week honors from the WCHA on Monday for their performances over the weekend against Lake Superior State.

Franklin was named co-Offensive Player of the Week for his three-goal, two-assist output in the sweep over the Lakers. He had six shots on goal won 12 faceoffs and was plus-3 in the series. Franklin now leads the Mavericks with nine goals among his 14 points. He shared this week's award with Bowling Green forward Brandon Hawkins, who also had three goals and two assists in the Falcons' sweep of Alaska Anchorage.

Huggins, who was in goal for the first time since Nov. 13, stopped 39 of 40 shots in the Mavericks' wins, including 17 in Friday's 8-0 shutout, his eighth career shutout. Saturday's 5-1 victory was the 30th victory of his career.

Ferris State goalie Darren Smith was named Rookie of the Week. More on the award winners here.

Meanwhile, Minnesota State moved up to No. 19 in the newest USCHO rankings. WCHA cohorts Michigan Tech and Bowling Green are 17th and 18th, respectively.

Finally, the WCHA on Monday gave Lake Superior State's Jake Hand an additional game suspension for his hit to the head of MSU's Jordan Nelson with 16 seconds to go in Saturday's game. Hand, a freshman was already set to sit out the Lakers' next game due after drawing a game disqualification for the hit, but the league (rightly) felt it necessary to add supplementary discipline.

Mavericks 5, Lakers 1

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. One-sided series: Minnesota State improved its all-time record against Lake Superior State to 10-0-0 with Saturday's victory. The Mavericks have outscored the Lakers 53-11 in those games. One player who has been excellent playing in all but two of those games is MSU's C.J. Franklin. Franklin scored two goals on Saturday to cap a five-point weekend (3-2) and has 12 points (5-7) in eight games against the Lakers. Coach Mike Hastings praised the defensive play of his newfound center, saying, "(Lake Superior State) didn’t spend a lot of time in their own end, and, with that, (Franklin) had the puck on his stick quite a bit. I just thought he had a really good weekend." Franklin sure seems like a shoo-in for WCHA Offensive Player of the Week.

2. Putting on a show: With 13 goals on the weekend, the Verizon Wireless Center crowds certainly entertained. Franklin's goals were beauties, a snipe off a rush on which he used a defender to screen goalie Nick Kossoff and one in which he batted the out of the air on the power play. Jordan Nelson scored a short-handed goal, Michael Huntebrinker one-timed in a perfect pass from fast-rising freshman Max Coatta, and Bryce Gervais ended a nine-game goal-less slump with a power-play goal. MSU was 2 for 6 on the power play and had three goals with the man advantage on the weekend. The Mavericks also had a goal by Max Coatta inexplicably waved off after video review. Apparently the ruling was Huntebrinker, who was in the crease and had taken a shot impeded Kossoff's movement to play the rebound.

3. Ugly ending: Unfortunately, the game ended with a nasty, blindsided elbow to the head of Nelson by Lakers freshman Jake Hand. The play, which occurred with 15 seconds left in the game, caused a little dust-up in which seven players from the two teams received unsportsmanlike conduct penalties while Nelson lay on the ice (he eventually got to his feet but was assisted out of the rink). Hand rightly received a major penalty and game disqualification, which will come with a one-game suspension. He ought to get at least another game for that hit, however, as it has absolutely no place in the sport, especially one that's supposedly concerned about player safety. "I'm really hoping our league handles it in the appropriate way," Hastings said.

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Ferris State 1, Bemidji State 1 (OT)

MSU vs. Lake Superior State — Game 2 live chat

The chat can be found under tonight's lines ...

MINNESOTA STATE
26-Margonari, 23-Blueger, 10-Knutson
25-Stepan, 15-Franklin, 19-McClure
24-Knowles, 17-Huntebrinker, 12-Coatta
9-Gervais, 16-J. Nelson, 13-Madry

28-Jutzi, 5-Foguth
8-Brickley, 6-C. Nelson
11-Flanagan, 21-Vanko

34-Huggins
29-A. Nelson

Scratches: Cooper, Lewis, Mullin, Pawloski, Schmeisser, Schwalbe

LAKE SUPERIOR STATE
29-Torrel, 16-Hults, 18-Globke
13-Correale, 26-Nenadal, 14-Hayes
25-Nellis, 8-Cuglietta, 7-Henke
15-Hand, 9-McKay

22-Wright, 12-Chatham
6-Roll, 28-Headrick
20-Drapluk, 5-McArdle
3-Spratte

30-Kossoff
31-Defiel

Mavericks 8, Lakers 0

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Offensive explosion: The Mavericks scored a season-high number of goals on Friday night, surpassing the total they scored in the last four games combined. It was nice to see a team that has had so many chances throughout the year finally break out — and they did it in front of a home crowd that wanted to see some offense. C.J. Franklin had a goal and two assists, and freshman Max Coatta scored two goals (his first-period goal was given to Brett Knowles, much to the chagrin of the person who loss his hat tossing it on the ice thinking Coatta had a hat trick). Five other players had goals, too, and 13 players had at least one point. The Mavericks even scored a power-play goal, something they hadn't done in the previous six games. Before Zeb Knutson's power-play goal, the Mavericks were 0 for their previous 24 tries.

2. Huggins returns: Junior goaltender Cole Huggins stopped 17 shots for his eighth career shutout. Huggins got the nod after freshman Jason Pawloski was injured in practice this week. Pawloski started 13 games in a row. Huggins' last start was on Nov. 13. "Going into it, I tried not to think about (the layoff) too much," Huggins said. "I know my teammates believe in me." Huggins had to be good in the game's first 8-10 minutes. He made five saves, while his teammates struggled to get out of the gate. "(The Lakers) came out and buzzed us," coach Mike Hastings said. "Huggins gave us an opportunity to stay even." Huggins stopped 10 shots in the second period but only faced two in the third. "You just have to stay ready," Huggins said. "If the other guy is playing well, you're happy of him, and if the team's winning, that's all you want."

3. It starts with defense: You can read more about Hastings' lineup changes in the gamer below, but both he and Franklin credited the defense for the way it got the offense going. Hastings has long been insisted that MSU's defensemen have to be part of the attack, and they were. Casey Nelson had three assists (he was also +3 and blocked four shots), and freshman Daniel Brickley scored his first career goal (he was +4). Carter Foguth and Alec Vanko had assists, and Sean Flanagan was robbed of a goal by LSSU goalie Gordon Defiel in the second period. Hastings also credited Franklin's defensive play, especially since his role changed moving from wing to center for the first time. "I thought he did a real good job defensively tonight, which, in turn, sometimes help you create offense because you’re not spending time in your own end," the coach said.

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Bowling Green 6, Alaska Anchorage 2 ... Ferris State 3, Bemidji State 2 (OT)

Live chat: MSU vs. Lake Superior State

The chat can be found below tonight's lines.

MINNESOTA STATE
26-Margonari, 23-Blueger, 10-Knutson
25-Stepan, 15-Franklin, 19-McClure
24-Knowles, 17-Huntebrinker, 12-Coatta
9-Gervais, 16-J. Nelson, 14-Mullin

28-Jutzi, 5-Foguth
8-Brickley, 6-C. Nelson
11-Flanagan, 21-Vanko

34-Huggins
29-A. Nelson

Scratches: Cooper, Lewis, Madry, Pawloski, Schmeisser, Schwalbe

LAKE SUPERIOR STATE
29-Torrel, 16-Hults, 18-Globke
13-Correale, 26-Nenadal, 14-Hayes
25-Nellis, 8-Cuglietta, 7-Henke
15-Hand, 9-McKay, 21-Schmitt

22-Wright, 12-Chatham
3-Spratte, 5-McArdle
20-Drapluk, 28-Headrick

31-Defiel
30-Kossoff

Friday Morning Skate

Minnesota State is back home after a week away and will try to get its 2016 record right against a dangerous Lake Superior State team.

Expect to see some lineup shuffling as the Mavericks try to kickstart their stagnant offense. Looking at some of the practice lineups this week, it doesn't appear any big names are being benched, but some roles may be changing, at least for tonight. Read more in this week's College Hockey Gameday.

One role that doesn't change too much is that of the team's fourth or "gold" line. Junior center Jordan Nelson says he wears that color practice jersey with pride as he did last season. However, he'd like to get his numbers back to what they were last year, too, especially his plus-minus.

As for the Lakers, a team MSU is 8-0-0 against, including a 6-0-0 mark last season, they're much improved and in play for home ice, having won three of their last five games and 7-5-2 since Nov. 20.

Going around the WCHA ...

• Bowling Green and Alaska Anchorage began their series on Thursday night, and the Falcons rolled, scoring five goals in the second period of a 6-2 win over the Seawolves.

• There's a good series brewing in Bemidji this weekend. Bemidji State and Ferris State have developed a nice league rivalry over the last couple of years.

• Michigan Tech (and several other teams) are idle this weekend, but their three-point series against Minnesota State showed things are moving in the right direction for the Huskies. That and more are explored in my and Jack Hittinger's USCHO column. You can also see our weekend picks here.

In cased you missed it, here's some of my coverage from earlier in the week:

• The WCHA is looking more and more like a one-bid conference for the NCAA tournament, and the race for the Broadmoor Trophy is wide open.

• The MSU women's team's Brianna Quade was named Defensive Player of the Week for an amazing effort in a pair of losses to No. 3 Minnesota.

• Finally, it's been a tough week at The Free Press, as we lost a friend and colleague, Dan Nienaber, to cancer. He was 49. Dan a bulldog reporter, who covered cops and courts and, before that, business. He was also a big college hockey fan; he loved his St. Cloud State Huskies. One of our editors, Kathy Vos, wrote a nice tribute to Dan, which you can read here.

Huskies 3, Mavericks 1

Freddy’s three thoughts of the game:

1. Top lines tell the story: Michigan Tech’s top players — top seniors — came through on Saturday night. Minnesota State’s did not. Alex Petan had two goals, and Malcolm Gould had a goal and two assists for the Huskies. They were the clear difference makers in the game. Meanwhile, it was a rather quiet night for Teddy Blueger, Bryce Gervais and company, as goal scoring continues to be a struggle for this team. Gervais did have an assist on Chandler Madry’s goal, MSU’s lone score of the game, which made it 2-1 early in the third period, the Mavericks’ best push of the game.

2. Streak is snapped: Michigan Tech beat Minnesota State for the first time since the 2011-12 season, stopping a 10-game winless streak in the series. Huskies coach Mel Pearson said he didn’t realize that it had gotten that high, considering that there have been some close battles between the two teams. “I hope we can get (a streak) like they had,” Pearson said. Pearson added that he wishes Tech and MSU were playing another series but thinks “we’ll probably see each other again down the line.”

3. Hardy folks: Shout-out to the crowd of 3,153 who braved the lake-effect snow that dumped on the Upper Peninsula on Saturday. I barely got out of the hotel parking lot to get to the rink wonder just when I’m going to get out of town on Sunday. But the folks in Houghton are used to the white stuff and showed it by coming out to the game. “The No. 1 star was our fans,” Pearson said.

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Miami 2, Bowling Green 1 … Ferris State 4, Alabama Hutnsville 1 … Lake Superior State 4, Alaska Anchorage 2 … Northern Michigan 5, Alaska 3 … Bemidji State 2, Arizona State 0

MSU at Michigan Tech — Game 2 live blog

The Mavericks will try to come away from snowy Houghton with three points when they play the Huskies at 6:07 p.m. CST today. Join the conversation or follow along in the live chat below tonight's lines.

MINNESOTA STATE
9-Gervais, 23-Blueger, 10-Knutson
15-Franklin, 17-Huntebrinker, 19-McClure
25-Stepan, 26-Margonari, 12-Coatta
16-J. Nelson, 27-Schwalbe 13-Madry

28-Jutzi, 5-Foguth
8-Brickley, 6-C. Nelson
11-Flanagan, 21-Vanko

39-Pawloski
34-Huggins

Scratches: Cooper, Knowles, Lewis, Mullin, A. Nelson, Schmeisser, Vanko

MICHIGAN TECH
14-Gould, 8-Steman, 23-Petan
16-Blacklock, 18-Eick, 11-L'Esperance
28-Baltus, 15-Lucchini, 9-Gillies
21-Vallis, 25-Neville, 13-Anderson

2-Watson, 12-Auk
6-Leibinger, 4-Birks
22-Hanna, 3-Roy

30-Phillips
31-Kero
35-Wintjes

Mavericks 2, Huskies 2 (OT)

Freddy's three thoughts of the game:

1. Even teams: The Mavericks met one of their equals on Friday night. Michigan Tech is a very similar team to MSU in that it likes to get up and down the rink and defends very well (the Mavs and Huskies rank 11th and 13th nationally in goals allowed per game) with good goaltending to boot. As a result, the 3,000-plus fans at the MacInnis Student Ice Arena saw an entertaining 2-2 overtime game in which MSU had a slight 32-29 edge in shots on goal. Tech made MSU defend more than it's been used to for much of the season, so give the Mavericks some credit for adjusting to a speedier team, especially in the third period when the home team really made a push. Despite their similarities,  MSU improved its unbeaten streak against Tech to 10 games (7-0-3).

2. Goalies get it done: Both MSU's Jason Pawloski and Tech's Jamie Phillips were rock-solid in goal, with Phillips doing the work early when he stopped 16 first-period shots to keep the game scoreless at the first intermission and Pawloski shining late when he stopped 12 of 13 shots in the third period. Each goalie made a highlight save in overtime to ensure his team secured one point in the WCHA standings. Pawloski looked calm and collected as usual, impressing at least one observer in the press box who was surprised to see that he's a freshman. Phillips, a 6-foot-3 senior, has been a staple in the Huskies' lineup for a season and a half and is simply hard to beat.

3. Fourth line comes through: Jordan Nelson (in video above) centers Minnesota State's fourth line, and scored his first goal of the season, giving MSU a 2-1 lead with 4:00 left in the third period. His wingers were solid, too, as Jimmy Mullin assisted on both Maverick goals (his first two assists of the season), and Brett Knowles had a solid overall game. "I think he challenged himself to be a difference maker," coach Mike Hastings said of Nelson, a junior. "I thought he and 24 and 14 (calling Knowles and Mullin by their jersey numbers) were a really good group for us tonight. I thought they contrinbuted in a lot of different ways."

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Alabama Huntsville 3, Ferris State 3 (OT) ... Alaska 3, Northern Michigan 2 (OT) ... Bemidji State 5, Arizona State 0

MSU vs. Michigan Tech — Game 1 live chat

Minnesota State and Michigan Tech will square off in what should be good series between two of the WCHA's top three teams. The game begins at 6:07 p.m. CST. Join the live chat in the section below tonight's lines.

MINNESOTA STATE
9-Gervais, 23-Blueger, 10-Knutson
15-Franklin, 17-Huntebrinker, 19-McClure
25-Stepan, 26-Margonari, 12-Coatta
24-Knowles, 16-J. Nelson, 14-Mullin

28-Jutzi, 5-Foguth
8-Brickley, 6-C. Nelson
11-Flanagan, 27-Schwalbe

39-Pawloski
34-Huggins

Scratches: Cooper, Lewis, A. Nelson, Madry, Schmeisser, Vanko

MICHIGAN TECH
14-Gould, 8-Steman, 23-Petan
21-Vallis, 25-Neville, 7-Sturos
28-Baltus, 15-Lucchini, 9-Gillies
10-Jackson, 18-Eick, 11-L'Esperance

2-Watson, 12-Auk
22-Hanna, 3-Roy
6-Leibinger, 4-Birks

30-Phillips
31-Kero
35-Wintjes

Friday Morning Skate

This is a bit of an abbreviated edition of the Friday Morning Skate, as I'll be up at the crack of dawn and heading to Houghton for the big series between the Mavericks and the Huskies.

Minnesota State is on a nine-game unbeaten streak against Michigan Tech, but there have been some good and important games played in front of big crowds over that time, and I'd expect that to be the case again this weekend.

The teams are fairly similar, it seems, as they like to get up and down the rink but also have solid defensive players and good goaltending.

For more on the series, check out the Freep's College Hockey Gameday.

A lot of WCHA action will be taking place in Michigan's Upper Peninsula this weekend. Besides MSU-Tech, Alaska at Northern Michigan and Alaska Anchorage at Lake Superior State. For more WCHA coverage, read my and Jack Hittinger's USCHO column and take a look at our weekend picks.

And, of course, be sure to check back later for pre-, during- and post-game coverage from Friday's game.

City Pages puts Gophers in penalty box

The City Pages, the Twin Cities-based alt-weekly, had quite the takedown of the Minnesota Gophers men's hockey program and coach Don Lucia this week, a story that has gotten a lot of attention in the college hockey world. Many who cover and are around the sport regularly, it seems, felt the story was unfair.

Minnesota's game against Minnesota State on Nov. 14 got some prominent play, considering that the Mavericks came from behind in the final 3 1/2 minutes to tie the game and then win in overtime.

Here's the excerpt:

Detractors don't argue with the quantity of wins. It's the drumbeat of embarrassing losses to nether teams, the string of playoff defeats to squads with superior grit. As they see it, a program built on Herb Brooks' dictatorship of hard work and selflessness has deteriorated into a confederacy of excuses. 

Take a game earlier this season against Minnesota-Mankato. The Mavericks erased a two-goal lead with less than four minutes remaining, then completed the comeback with an overtime dagger. 

After the loss, Lucia fingered a freshman's mental error for allowing Mankato to climb back into the game. 

Weeks later, an NHL scout still broils. 

"That sums up the state of the program. There's always an excuse," he says. "You blow a two-goal lead with three minutes in your own barn against an average team, and it's a freshman's fault. It's another example of how they've lowered their standards, and Lucia gets away with it, having an explanation for everything. It's like because they were once good, they don't have to work to be excellent now."

That's an interesting anecdote, to be sure, especially the reaction of the anonymous scout. However, I was at Lucia's postgame presser that night and heard him talk about a freshman who iced the puck because he didn't quite make it to the red line before dumping it. Certainly, it was a key point in the game because the Mavericks took full advantage of a couple of icings by the Gophers in their comeback.

But tone matters, and I never felt, in listening to Lucia that night, that he was throwing a freshman under the bus and blaming a young kid for the loss. Rather, I thought he was explaining to the assembled reporters exactly what happened and that it was a mistake and a key one during the game. 

Am I wrong on this?

If you're curious about Lucia's reaction to the story, check out coverage here and here.

Mavericks 3, Wildcats 1

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Coatta many passes: Freshman Max Coatta was a healthy scratch on Friday, a casualty of Minnesota State's newfound health. He was inserted into the lineup at right wing on the third line on Saturday, taking the place of Jimmy Mullin, and he came up huge, assisting on all three of the Mavericks' goals. The Minnetonka native, who played at Waterloo of the USHL last season, played in 16 game in the first half of the season and had two goals and an assist. Listed perhaps generously at 5-foot-10 and 174-pounds, he's not the biggest player, but he wasn't afraid to do work around the net and along the wall. "I can kind of be an energy guy," he said. He was behind the net when he made a pass to Zach Stepan, who fired on net, and Dylan Margonari cleaned up the rebound for what would be the game-winning goal at 4:28 of the third period. "He shows a lot of character, too, not being in the lineup last night and stepping up and being the player he was," Margonari said. "It was a huge effort tonight."

2. Football on ice? I plan to write more about this in my Tuesday column, but the officiating on Saturday — and, really, throughout college hockey all season — left a lot to be desired. And fans desire at least some offense — some up and down action — and scoring chances. Clutching, grabbing, obstruction, interference, bear hugs, tackles ... you name it, it's bogging down the game. Sure, the Mavericks had 80-plus shots on the weekend, and you have to tip your hat to the Wildcats' two goalies, Atte Tolvanen and Mathias Israelsson. But there's a reason why goal scoring is so low, and officials allowing teams to muck up play is a big reason for that. "I think the standard, as far as officiating, as far as what's a penalty and what isn't anymore has gone back a little bit," coach Mike Hastings said. "And that's not specifically about these two officials. It's just, I think the game' moved that way a little bit. And we need to adjust to it."

3. Rebound win: Freshman goaltender Jason Pawloski lost for the first time on Friday night (although he was pulled from a game earlier this season in which he got no decision), and bounced back well. He allowed a goal on Northern Michigan's first shot, but it was a play by a very good top line that had MSU chasing in its defensive zone. (Darren Nowick, Dominik Shine and Gerard Hanson, by the way had 10 of their team's 15 shots). Pawloski kept a clean sheet from there for his eighth win, making just 14 saves but a few key ones when the game was still tied and when the Mavericks had a 2-1 lead. "He's got a calmness about him that he doesn't get too high or too low," Hastings said. "He grabbed our goaltending coach after their skate today and just said, 'Hey, I'd really like to watch some video.' He's trying to get better all the time. ... I like his demeanor."

Deep thought: The win, combined with Bowling Green's overtime loss to Lake Superior State, put Minnesota State back on top of the WCHA standings. They're two points ahead of the Falcons and five ahead of next week's opponent Michigan Tech.

Read the game story here.

Around the WCHA: Lake Superior State 1, Bowling Green (OT) ... Alabama Huntsville 3, Alaska 1 ... Bemidji State at Alaska Anchorage (late) ... Michigan Tech vs. Yale (Sunday in Arizona)

MSU vs. Northern Michigan — Game 2 live blog

The Mavericks and the Wildcats will finish off the season series tonight. The Mavericks' lines are shuffled a bit from Friday night. The chat can be found below the lines.

MINNESOTA STATE
9-Gervais, 23-Blueger, 10-Knutson
15-Franklin, 17-Huntebrinker, 19-McClure
25-Stepan, 26-Margonari, 12-Coatta
24-Knowles, 16-J. Nelson, 22-Schmeisser

28-Jutzi, 5-Foguth
8-Brickley, 6-C. Nelson
11-Flanagan, 27-Schwalbe

39-Pawloski
34-Huggins
29-A. Nelson

Scratches: Cooper, Lewis, Madry, Mullin, Vanko

NORTHERN MICHIGAN
10-Hanson, 20-Nowick, 15-Shine
29-Payne, 19-Starzynski, 8-Pierce
22-Adair, 24-Diamantoni, 17-Siemer
44-Black, 2-Purpur, 18-Paskaruk

14-Maschmeyer, 6-Urban
40-Klimek, 42-Kaib
3-Vermuelen, 4-Frantti

32-Israelsson
41-Tolvanen

Wildcats 3, Mavericks 1

Freddy's three thoughts of the game:

1. They have company: Minnesota State is no longer all by its lonesome in first place in the WCHA. Friday's loss to Northern Michigan put it in a tie with Bowling Green, which won its game at Lake Superior State. Both teams are at 22 points, and they tied each other twice earlier in the year. Friday's game was a loss, senior Brett Knowles said, that reminded him of his team's early season games when the Mavericks outshot opponents but couldn't score enough goals — if any — to win. "We got chances; we got shots," said Knowles, who scored his team's lone goal, a pretty short-hander in the first period. "But we didn't go that extra 2 percent. The effort was there but not that extra little bit."

2. The harder they come: The postgame theme was one we've heard before: "We have to be harder," coach Mike Hastings said. Indeed, the Mavericks, if they're not going to be a team that finishes finesse plays, need to be tougher around the net to score goals, especially against a team like the Wildcats, who practically dare their foes to disrupt things around the goalie. The Mavericks had 82 shots attempts, putting 42 on outstanding goalie Atte Tolvanen, getting 16 blocked and missing the net 24 times. There weren't much for second and third opportunities on plays, sometimes because Tolvanen controlled pucks and other times because there was no one around to snag a juicy rebound.

3. Streaks snapped: Lots of streaks went by the wayside in the game. The Mavericks nine-game unbeaten streak came to an end, as did a nine-game WCHA unbeaten streak, along with scoring streaks by Michael Huntebrinker (eight games), Teddy Blueger (five) and Zeb Knutson (five). Goalie Jason Pawloski lost for the first time this season, too. Northern Michigan broke a seven-game winless streak against Minnesota State, too. The Mavericks gave up three goals (NMU's third goal was an empty-netter) for the first time since their last loss, which was on Nov. 13 against Minnesota. The Mavericks have lost four home games this season. They lost a total of three at the Verizon Wireless Center over the previous two seasons.

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Michigan Tech 3, UConn 2 ... Bowling Green 3, Lake Superior State 1 ... Alaska 6, Alabama Huntsville 3 ... Bemidji State 6, Alaska Anchorage 3

MSU vs. Northern Michigan — Game 1 live blog

Tonight's lines:

MINNESOTA STATE
9-Gervais, 23-Blueger, 19-McClure
15-Franklin, 17-Huntebrinker, 10-Knutson
25-Stepan, 26-Margonari, 14-Mullin
24-Knowles, 16-J. Nelson, 22-Schmeisser

28-Jutzi, 5-Foguth
8-Brickley, 6-C. Nelson
11-Flanagan, 27-Schwalbe

39-Pawloski
34-Huggins
29-A. Nelson

Scratches: Coatta, Cooper, Lewis, Madry, Vanko

NORTHERN MICHIGAN
10-Hanson, 20-Nowick, 15-Shine
29-Payne, 11-Sooth, 8-Pierce
22-Adair, 24-Diamantoni, 17-Siemer
2-Purpur, 19-Starzynski, 18-Paskaruk

14-Maschmeyer, 6-Urban
40-Klimek, 42-Kaib
3-Vermeulen, 5-Trenz

41-Tolvanen
32-Israelsson

Friday Morning Skate

It almost feels like the start of a second season, considering how long it's been since we last saw Minnesota State play. The Mavericks are at home this weekend against Northern Michigan, a team they tied twice in November in Marquette, Mich.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the Mavericks should be nearly 100 percent healthy, as close to full strength as they've been since before the season began. If they can avoid the rash of injuries they had in the first half, they're definitely capable of going on a run.

Will that health boost their scoring? Improve their power play? Keep opponents shots to a minimum? Keep the goaltending strong? Stay tuned.

One player worth keeping an eye on is junior defenseman Casey Nelson, who got some hype during the break when an article published on the sports network TSN's website called him the college free agent getting the most interest by NHL teams. There's been chatter about him being a highly thought of prospect since last season ended. But this was the first real public proclamation. Anyway, Nelson says he's committed to finishing his four years of college hockey, so those NHL teams might have to wait. Nelson's numbers have been impressive, especially over the last season and a half when he's compiled 45 points in 59 games and been +19.

While Minnesota State was sitting idle for three weeks, Northern Michigan did play over the holidays, taking third place in the Great Lakes Invitational. The Wildcats lost to No. 10 Michigan 3-2 and beat Michigan State 2-1 in overtime. Wildcats junior forward Dominik Shine was named the WCHA's player of the month for December.

The Mavericks enter the weekend with a number of streaks intact. For more on those and other tidbits on the NMU series, check out The Free Press' College Hockey Gameday.

For more on MSU's quest to get healthy and ready for the second half of the season, as well as other news on WCHA teams, check out my and Jack Hittinger's USCHO column. Read our weekend picks here.

Going around the WCHA ...

Bowling Green at Lake Superior State: The Falcons, who are MSU's closest competitor in the WCHA standings, aren't taking anything for granted this weekend, playing a tough and improved Lakers team that tied them twice at home earlier this season. Bowling Green has dropped two of its last three games, too, since extending their unbeaten streak to nine games.

Alaska at Alabama Huntsville: At the season's midway point these two teams sit in ninth and 10th place, respectively, in the WCHA standings. That's out of playoff position. The Nanooks are struggling and are considering these games must-wins.

Bemidji State at Alaska Anchorage: The Beavers will concluded their nearly two-week trip to Alaska with this series. They took three of four points in Fairbanks last weekend, perhaps because the Fitzgerald triplets were finally on the ice together again. For the Seawolves, sophomore goaltender Olivier Mantha is one of the top goalies in the league but he wants to get even better.

Michigan Tech at Arizona State's Desert Hockey Classic: In their second consecutive mid-season tournament (they took second in the GLI), the Huskies will play UConn today and either Yale or the host Sun Devils on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota State women's hockey team will go for its first WCHA win of the season at 2:07 p.m. today when it hosts St. Cloud State at the Verizon Wireless Center. The Mavericks and the Huskies will play again at the same time on Saturday.

Happy new year

Oh, hello. ... I didn't see you there.

No I didn't forget about you.

Between posting stories and news on The Free Press' website and keeping up with everything Twitter and, of course, Minnesota State's long break between games, sometimes good old Puckato gets lost in the shuffle. Now that it's 2016, I resolve to get and stay caught up.

Anyway, the Mavericks are back on the ice now, preparing for this weekend's WCHA home series against Northern Michigan, and, boy, does the ice look crowded.

That's because Minnesota State appears to be as healthy as it has all season with just one player not skating this week. That means a deeper and possibly more-competitive team, one with players who have won spots and playing time.

"It still needs to be earned," coach Mike Hastings said of playing time, noting that there were several games in the first half in which there practically was a minimum number of skaters, forwards playing D, defensemen playing forward, etc.

You can read more about the Mavericks' return to the rink and their return to health here.

The Mavericks have a tough but manageable schedule for the second half with plenty of intriguing storylines. In my Tuesday column, I took a look at the remaining games MSU faces as it tries to repeat as MacNaughton Cup champions and goes for a fourth straight national tournament berth.