Mavericks 3, Bulldogs 0

Freddy's three thoughts ...

1. Let's wait awhile: The playoff game between the No. 1 and No. 8 seeds in the WCHA was a tight one and remained scoreless until 8:49 of the third period when Julian Napravnik scored a power-play goal. The WCHA Offensive Player of the Year cashed in with his 10th goal of the season and his sixth game-winner. That loosened up the Bulldogs' tightly packed defense a bit, and the Mavericks added two more goals, one from Jared Spooner just 53 seconds later and another from Walker Duehr, who continues to stay hot.

2. Big day: On Friday afternoon, the WCHA announced that Dryden McKay had won the league's Player of the Year Award, joining Marc Michaelis and C.J. Suess to claim that honor. He backed that up by recording his ninth shutout of the season and the 23rd of his career — 23 of his 72 career wins have been shutouts. Crazy. McKay made just 15 saves but several tough ones, especially over the game's first 10 minutes but also throughout the game's scoreless stretch. "We hung him out to dry a couple times," coach Mike Hastings said. "But he's OK at handling that type of situation. He gave us an opportunity to get our feet underneath us."

3. Playing hard: Watching MSU play Ferris State a few times this season, you figured the Bulldogs might be a tough out. They play hard defensively and block shots, and they were aggressive offensively early on Friday's game to try to get a quick lead. "They played with a lot more jam and desperation," Hastings said. "Thank goodness we had Dryden McKay." It's been a tough season for them, going 1-21-1 with the lone win coming against a Division III team. The Bulldogs look like a better team than than that. They'll try to get a win and keep their season alive in Game 2 at 4:07 p.m. Saturday.