Freddy's three thoughts ...
1. Rolling: With wins of 4-0 and 4-1 at home against Ferris State, No. 2 Minnesota State has now won six games in a row and owns a nine-game unbeaten streak. Over the six-game win streak — all official WCHA games — the Mavericks have outscored opponents 26-3. Their record now stands at 9-1-1, and they've outscored all foes 40-11. Seven different players scored goals in the series, with Walker Duehr scoring twice. Reggie Lutz had a three-point game on Saturday, and Duehr and Brendan Furry each had three-point weekends. The Mavericks played without senior captain Riese Zmolek, who "got a little dinged up" a week earlier at Lake Superior State. Coach Mike Hastings said Saturday that Zmolek is "progressing in the right direction."
2. Clean cage: Goalie Dryden McKay recorded his 20th career shutout — and sixth of the season — in the first game and stopped 25 of 26 shots for the weekend. Shutouts ain't easy, even when you face as few shows as McKay faced against the Bulldogs (11 on Saturday). And, as good as he is (.954 SV%, 0.90 GAA currently), he's getting tremendous help from his teammates. After two periods on Saturday, defenseman Wyatt Aamodt had more saves with six blocked shots than McKay, who had five. In the most-impressive sequence of the game Aamodt blocked a shot with his helmet, which broke, got up and, moments later, blocked another shot. "It's a good thing about our helmets nowadays," Aamodt said, "you don't really feel it too much."
3. They've got the power: Minnesota State went 4 for 7 on the power play over the weekend and is now 14 for 41 on the season, a ridiculous 34.1% success rate, best in the country by nearly five percentage points. Nine of Cade Borchardt's team' leading 15 points have come on the power play, including a goal and an assist on Sunday afternoon. Eight of Nathan Smith's 12 points have come on the power play, including his two assists on Sunday.
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