Freddy's three thoughts from afar:
1. Sweepin' ain't easy: Sure, a lot of MSU fans expected the Mavericks to win twice at ninth-place Ferris State, fearing a disastrous Pairwise hit if they come out of Big Rapids with two wins. Minnesota State won another squeaker on Saturday to get the sweep. But all you have to do is look at the other scores from around the WCHA and realize how tough a task it can be. Bemidji State and Lake Superior State couldn't sweep at home this weekend, and Bowling Green and Michigan Tech split in Houghton. Perhaps Northern Michigan will win two at last-place Alaska Anchorage. It took good goaltending by Dryden McKay and a couple of fortuitous bounces for the Mavericks to pull it off this weekend, and they're in a good spot atop the standings because of it.
2. Injury report: Mike Hastings called the win "gutsy," and indeed, the Mavericks were playing without a couple of key players. Junior forward Parker Tuomie missed his sixth straight game with a lower-body injury, and sophomore defenseman Riese Zmolek was out with an upper-body injury suffered on Friday night. Hastings said he believes Zmolek is going to be fine, but Saturday night in that small rink was the kind of game where you need good, minutes-eating, defensive defensemen. Andy Carroll filled in at Zmolek's spot on the line chart and showed that he's continuing to get better as his rookie season progresses.
3. Elk's club: I didn't quite declare the sophomore slumps of Jake Jaremko and Reggie Lutz to be over on Friday night, but I didn't jinx them either. Lutz scored a goal (while lying on his stomach), Jaremko assisted on it, and the duo from Elk River were called the Mavericks' "two best players all weekend" by Hastings after the game. As I said on Friday, if those two start playing like most people expected they would this season, MSU's depth will be hard for anyone to handle. As for Lutz's prone-position goal, Hastings said, "That's one of those where, if you do things the right way, this game has the tendency to pay you back. He did things the right way all weekend. He played hard, and he played honest."
Read my game story here.
Around the WCHA: Alaska 2, Bemidji State 1 (OT) ... Alabama Huntsville 1, Lake Superior State 1 (OT) ... Bowling Green 3, Michigan Tech 2 ... Northern Michigan at Alaska Anchorage (late)
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