Saturday, November 30, 2019

Mavericks 3, Bulldogs 1

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Special team: Minnesota State won a tough game on Saturday night to pull off the sweep of Minnesota Duluth in Amsoil Arena. Thanks to three power-play goals and an outstanding penalty kill that had to put in "some road miles," Mike Hastings said, they ground out the the win. Minnesota State killed nine minutes of penalties over the final 10:45 of the second period. That included Jared Spooner's five-minute major that was called after a video review. Kudos to veterans Josh French and Nick Rivera, along with defensemen Riese Zmolek, Connor Mackey, Jack McNeely and Edwin Hookenson, the latter of whom Hastings said had his best weekend of the year.

2. Don't forget the goalie: And then there was Dryden McKay, who stopped 37 of 38 shots, including all 16 he faced in that tough second period. McKay made some crazy back-door saves early in the second period and, really, was the difference between an MSU sweep and a series split. In each game of the Mavericks' current seven-game winning streak, he has not allowed more than one goal. The Mavericks have outscored teams 27-5 over that stretch.

3. Welcome back, Sowder: Freshman Lucas Sowder had such a good start to the season then hit a little bit of a rookie lull and was a scratch for a few games, including Friday night. He was back in the lineup on Saturday and ended up with a goal and an assist. He set up the first of Jake Jaremko's two goals in the first period, making a heady play by taking the rebound of a Reggie Lutz shot around the net and dishing to Jaremko in the left circle. In the third period, he was involved in a very similar play, only that time, he took the Lutz rebound and jammed in in for a 2-1 lead less than two minutes after UMD had tied the game.

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Bemidji State 2, Lake Superior State 2 (LSSU wins the 3x3 OT) ... Bowling Green 5, Notre Dame 2 ... Northern Michigan 3, Alabama Huntsville 1 ... Ferris State 4, Alaska Anchorage 4 (UAA wins the shootout) ... Michigan Tech at Alaska (late)

1 comment:

puckluck said...

Safe travels home, Shane. Great weekend for the Mavs.