Mavericks 5, Bulldogs 2

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. No. 1 line of the night: On a night when the top group of Michaelis-Tuomie-Gerard was kept off the board, the group of Spooner-Rivera-Napravnik came through with one of their best performances. Spooner, as you can read about in my gamer (link below) was exceptional, especially on one particular goal. The trio accounted for three goals and three assists for the game and five goals and five assists for the weekend. "I just think we're starting to build chemistry," Spooner said. "Rivera has been hard, and Julian has been a playmaker. It's just a very good combination. We complement each other well."

2. Israelsson needed: Didn't touch on this too much in the gamer, but coach Mike Hastings brought up the play of Mathias Israelsson, who had one of his busiest nights as a Maverick. He stopped 24 shots, nine in the second period for his and the team's sixth win in a row. "I thought he stood real tall, did a great job, controlled rebounds and made a couple that he shouldn’t have and allowed us to build on a lead," Hastings said. Tonight was the first night in MSU's win streak that it's given up more than one goal, but Ferris State was better than on Friday and had a few possessions where it had the Mavericks chasing in their own end until "Izzy" calmed things down.

3. Grind it out: It seemed like there weren't going to be any penalties called in the game, which was odd considering that it was a pretty tight-checking, physical game. The first penalty was finally called at 7:29 of the third period, and Max Coatta scored on the ensuing power play for a 4-2 lead. "Josh French was a  little bit of an unsung hero," Hastings said. "He drives wide and creates the power play opportunity (drawing a penalty). And then that group went in and executed." The Mavericks were called for two penalties, both in the final 5:22, and killed them both off to preserve the win.

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Clarkson 3, Michigan Tech 1 ... Northern Michigan 2, Alaska Anchorage 1 ... St. Cloud State 7, Bemidji State 4 ... Bowling Green 5, Lake Superior State 2 ... Alabama Huntsville at Alaska (late)