Mavericks 5, Lakers 3

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

First things first ... The $30,000 shot:

Oh you know, just a casual THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLAR SHOT!!!!! ICE IN HER VEINS! #SCtop10 @espn @SportsCenter @Buccigross pic.twitter.com/FLc2rsfuRg

— Maverick Hockey Weekend (@MaverickHW) January 19, 2019

1. Stop thief! I spent a lot of the gamer (linked below) writing about MSU winning at home and the return of Parker Tuomie, so be sure to read that! But the Mavericks' first goal on Friday was a thing of beauty, a highlight almost as cool as the $30K shot. Nick Rivera, playing on the penalty kill, snuck up behind a defender at the Lakers blue line, picked his pocket and dashed away for a breakaway goal. One of the cooler plays you'll see. It was one of two breakaway goals for the MSU. Tuomie had the other one, and he showed off some nifty moves to make that happen.

2. Lessons learned: The Mavericks have played some close games over the last month or so, including last weekend at Ferris State, in which they had trouble extending leads. That wasn't a problem on Friday as they went up 3-0 and then answered Lake State's first two goals to maintain a fairly comfortable lead. "In games recently, we’ve taken some penalties late, and I thought our discipline was good through the third period where we didn’t create the other team’s opportunity through power plays," coach Mike Hastings said. "You need to do that. We’ve hopefully learned from some of our mistakes that way."

3. There's a Wyatt going on: I wrote about freshman defenseman Wyatt Aamodt a bit in my gamer, but he's worth mentioning here after scoring his first career goal and having a two-point night. The Hermantown native, who now has six points, and fellow rookie Andy Carroll (Friday's 19th skater) have split time among the top six D and seem to be getting more comfortable in their play. "He’s playing with some poise," Hastings said. "I think he can be a defender because he’s a 200 pounder back there that can move. I like where his game is right now, and hopefuly he can put back to back together."

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Bemidji State 4, Michigan Tech 3 (OT) ... Alabama Huntsville 6, Alaska Anchorage 2 ... Bowling Green at Alaska (late)