Mavericks 4, Nanooks 0

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Win 200: There's much more about this in my gamer (linked below), but it's been an impressive 7 1/2 seasons for Mike Hastings at Minnesota State. He picked up his 200th victory with the Mavericks on Friday. No team in men's college hockey has won more games than MSU since he took over in 2012. Hastings credited Troy Jutting and the former coach's assistants, whom he's kept, for making sure the cupboard wasn't bare when he got to Mankato. But Hastings definitely turned around the program to make it one of the best in the country.

2. Michaelis takes over: Marc Michaelis scored two goals and assisted on another in the third period to put the game out of reach. Perhaps his most-impressive play was the set-up to Parker Tuomie for the game's fourth goal. He showed patience before passing across to the back door where Tuomie was crashing down. Michaelis could have tried for the hat trick there but made the selfless play instead. "Marc’s a selfless player," Hastings said. "He does a really good job delivering, as our other leaders, … messages on we’s more important than me. Marc’s the epitome of that. I really like the maturation level that he’s carrying himself with both on and off the ice right now. I just thought he was solid from start to finish."

3. Team shutout: Dryden McKay recorded his sixth shutout of the season, his second in a row and the 10th in his season and a half with the Mavericks. But he only had to stop seven shots to do that. The Mavericks actually blocked more shots (10) than they allowed to get to their goaltender. No shots got to McKay in the third period. "The guys were giving it to Drydo a little bit in there," Hastings said. "I thought the team played well together, whether we had it or didn’t have it. I thought we were responsible. We didn’t create the other team’s offense."

Read my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Northern Michigan 5, Bowling Green 2 ... Bemidji State 5, Ferris State 2 ... North Dakota 5, Alabama Huntsville 2