1. Good stretch: Minnesota State finished off a daunting January schedule (it will play an exhibition game on Saturday) with a 1-0 win over Minnesota Duluth. The Mavericks went 5-1-0 in the month that included four games in Alaska and two more against ranked nonconference rivals that defeated them earlier in the season. They went 3-1-0 in Alaska, beat St. Cloud State on Saturday in St. Cloud and got the win at home over Minnesota Duluth on Tuesday. "Those games were very important for us because we didn't win the first two," coach Mike Hastings said of the SCSU and UMD wins. "We needed to win the next two." The wins moved MSU up to No. 6 in the Pairwise Rankings.
2. No. 1 goalie? Connor LaCouvee stopped 15 shots to earn his 13th win and get his third shutout fo the year. "I thought Connor LaCouvee was rock-solid," Hastings said. LaCouvee has competed with Jason Pawloski throughout the year, but the big wins this week, along with the must-win at Alaska a week earlier, were impressive for the senior. He faced 62 shots in those games and allowed three goals. LaCouvee gave a lot of credit to his defense and penalty killers, who blocked a total of 22 shots against the Bulldogs. UMD went 0 for 4 on the power play and got just three shots to the goaltender.
3. Disaster averted: Zeb Knutson played a great game, leading all players with seven shots on goal. "Zeb was outstanding tonight," Hastings said. "He was oustanding the last two games. To have a senior step up and play the way that he played — and I told him in the locker room — I thought he was fantastic." However, Knutson missed an easy empty-net goal with 38 seconds left that would have iced the game. Many people, including Hastings, thought of this play between the Stars and Oilers from 2007. Unlike that night, though, the Mavericks prevented any good UMD chances and held on for the victory.
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