Mavericks 6, Falcons 1

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Early survival: I focused mainly on the scoring for my game story (linked below), but it's worth noting the the first couple minutes of the game were all Bowling Green. They had the Mavericks pinned in their own end for a long while, and it seemed it might be a long night for the home team. Add to that a stretch of four penalty kills in a row, and it seemed, as coach Mike Hastings said, "You get concerned your burning the tank." While those moments might have taken their toll on the top line and a couple of defensemen, others came through in the clutch. Brad McClure, who's been a bit snakebite, scored the first goal, and he could have had more, putting six pucks on goal.

2. Still winning: Another player who came through early for Minnesota State was goalie Connor LaCouvee. That might not be something you think of too much in a 6-1 game. However, he stopped 24 of 25 shots, including 11 of 11 in the first period and 5 of 6 on the penalty kill. The senior/grad transfer is now 7-0-0 as a Maverick. "Connor was good," Hastings said. "He gave us an opportunity to get our feet underneath us."

3. Power hungry: Minnesota State finished 3 for 5 on the power play, scoring on their first three times with the man advantage. Two of the goals were momentum-turners, with McClure's staring the scoring at 3:57 after that early energy by the Falcons, and the first of two Ian Scheid PPGs coming after Bowling Green made it 2-1 midway through the second period. Scheid's first goal was a beauty of a shot. He picked the upper-right corner from the high slot. The second was a tap-in off a nice feed from Zeb Knutson. "He’s got a real good hockey head," Hastings said of Scheid, a sophomore defenseman. "He donesn’t panic. That poise, I wish that was something you could go buy off a shelf and give to people, but you can’t."

Read my gamer here.

Around the WCHA: Michigan State 3, Ferris State 2 (OT) ... Lake Superior State 3, Alabama Huntsville 1 ... Alaska Anchorage 1, Michigan Tech 1 (UAA wins shootout) ... Northern Michigan 5, Alaska 3