MSU 5, Colorado College 1

Freddy's three thoughts of the game:

First a clarification ... According to coach Troy Jutting, the move to start goalie Austin Lee was a coach's decision. Cook was not sick. Jutting called it a "one of those coach's hunches," and it worked. "Austin had a good week of practice," the coach said. "He had great rebound control and a couple nice saves in the first period." Lee finished with 21 saves.

1. Sick and hurt:  Chase Grant watched from the press box with an illness. Rylan Galiardi and Zach Lehrke got hurt in the first period and couldn't play. But Minnesota State's patchwork lineup found a way to score five goals and defeat the 19th-ranked Tigers. Eriah Hayes scored two goals, and Justin Jokinen, Mike Dorr and Mike Louwerse had the others. Andrew Sackrison had two assists, and Dorr also had an assist for a two-point game. "I thought our older guys came to play," Jutting said. "Jocks, Eriah and Louie -- guys who needed to chip in did -- and Mike Dorr."

2. No comeback: The Mavs held a tenuous 2-0 lead after two periods, and we all know what they've done with those against ranked teams from time to time. Just 1:46 into the third period, CC scored off a faceoff to make it a 2-1 game. They had their wheels rolling for a few moments after that, too. But MSU weathered the storm and got a goal from Hayes just about four minutes later to make it a two-score game again. "When they got that first one, we knew we weren't going to have (a comeback) happen against us again," Hayes said. "The guys really brought it after that."

3. Discovering power: Minnesota State finished 2 for 4 on the power play, marking the first time it scored two power-play goals in a game since Dec. 10. The Mavs mixed things up a bit, putting Joe Schiller on the power play and moving Dorr down low. The plan worked on the the Mavs' second goal of the game as Kurt Davis made a perfect pass to Dorr at the left post, and Dorr made a nice move toward the net and slid the puck behind Joe Howe, a goalie who has two career shutouts against Minnesota State.

Finally, there's quite a logjam in the race for home ice in the WCHA standings. The Mavericks' win puts them in a tie for ninth place with St. Cloud State (MSU has the head-to-head advantage) They're one point behind eighth-place Minnesota and two points behind sixth-place CC and Alaska-Anchorage. See the standings here.

See Friday night's box score here.

Minn. State vs. Colorado College - Game 1 live blog

Tonight's lines can be found below the Cover It Live box. ... The live blog will start about a half hour before game time (8:37 p.m. CST) ... UPDATE: Apparently there's some sickness going through the MSU lineup. Chase Grant is out, as is Josh Nelson. Phil Cook originally was supposed to start in goal, but Austin Lee will get the chance now. ... Lee played two games against CC last season, losing 3-2 and 1-0 in overtime. He stopped 54 of 58 shots that weekend (Nov. 13-14, 2009).



MINNESOTA STATE
23-Dorr   21-Sackrison   25-Hayes
15-Burkemper   12-Galiardi   11-Leivermann
29-Zuck   19-Lehrke   14-Jokinen
24-Mueller   26-Schiller   9-Louwerse

28-Boe   22-Davis
16-Elbrecht   5-Youds
3-Cooper   17-Mosey

1-Lee
30-Cook

Scratches: Grant, Heath, McInnis, Nelson, Peterson

COLORADO COLLEGE
23-Hall   22-Dineen   15-Hamburg
9-Eveland   12-Skalbeck   17-Johnson
4-Schultz   5-Winlker   27-Rapuzzi
6-Krushelnyski   11-Civitarese   21-Collett

24-Lowery   7-McDermott
10-Guentzel   4-Marciano
28-Boivin   2-Bidwill

31-Howe
39-Thorimbert
1-O'Brien

Referees: Don Adam, Todd Anderson. Linesmen: Stephen Stankevich, Scott Staudte

Friday morning skate

Getting an early start out of Mankato to catch my flight to Colorado Springs. I'll try to update the 'Skate' from the airport or once I'm in Colorado, if I can. If not, I'll be on with the live blog prior to MSU's game against Colorado College, which begins at 8:37 p.m. CST.

In the meantime, be sure to check out my story and preview package on The Free Press website and lots of good stuff from the CC Tigers beat writer Joe Paisley of The Gazette.

All of the WCHA teams are in action against each other this weekend as Wisconsin goes to Nebraska-Omaha, Denver is at Minnesota, St. Cloud State travels to Minnesota Duluth, Bemidji State heads to Michigan Tech and Alaska Anchorage plays at North Dakota.

Answering your questions

From DWebb: YO. I wrote you last time asking why the Mavs couldn't get the job done in the third period against some of their higher ranked opponents. This week, I feel like they couldn't get the job done in any period despite the series split with BSU. I couldn't see the games live, but 81 shots in two games, and only two goals... what happened? Were they just taking easy shots for Bakala to stop, or what? How do you explain the "struggles in the goal-scoring department" as you called it? And do you really believe this is something they can fix/overcome in time for the post-season?

DWebb, I'm not sure if they can overcome the goal-scoring issues. With three series left in the regular season, I'm afraid they are what they are at this point. That doesn't mean they can't break out once in awhile and put a few goals in; they simply don't have the consistent, top-flight player or two who is always a threat to score. That being said, I think they have to keep doing what's worked for them for the last 2 1/2 months or so, with their fast style and hard play. That keeps games close and gives them a a chance They didn't have that on Saturday night against Bemidji. The Mavs had good scoring chances, and Bakala made some nice saves, but the "urgency" -- to use Rylan Galiardi's word -- wasn't there.

From LetsGoMavs: I'm guessing last year's jersey auction made some good money, since MSU is doing another one so soon. That makes me have a few questions: 1. How much money did last year's auction make? 2. Which 3 jerseys were the top sellers last year? 3. If you could design a regular alternate jersey for the Mavs, what would it look like?

LGM, I got some answers for you from Mike Powicki, assistant athletic director in charge of development. Last year's jersey sales generated $11,040. Geoff Irwin and Channing Boe brought in the most money at $600 apiece, and Zach Harrison's came in at $550. 

As for what my design would look like, that's a good question. I'm kind of a uniform junkie, and I love this blog. I really liked last year's alternate as well as the 1980-style with Mavericks spelled out in the shape of a bull. If they're interested in doing another throwback, I'd look at the first years when they were the Mankato State Indians. While they probably couldn't do Indians, they could do a similar style and spell out Mavericks in cursive across the chest and perhaps do something similar to what St. Cloud State did a few years ago or what Duluth did this year.

From Jeff: Shane, 1) I know that the civic center is on Gov. Dayton's list for his bonding bill proposal. While it's unlikely that this goes through, what kind of renovations are we looking at? 2) I've mentioned this before, but don't know if you were able to answer. Is there a reason that the Mavs have a more defensive philosophy now than the early 2000s? Is it a result of a change in Jutting's tactics or more of a result based upon the recruits we are able to bring in?

Jeff, 1. I'm not sure how much of that money would go toward the rink. I know that Mankato officials are interested in building a theater to attach to the Verizon Wireless Center, and much of the money would go toward that. However, I know there is a wish list of things to upgrade to the main arena. I believe they'd like to replace the red and blue seats with purple ones. There's been talk of locker-room upgrades, too. If it were up to me, I'd upgrade the top-level suites, add a club room at the Zamboni end of the ice with windows overlooking the rink (initial plans were drawn up for that in 2003) and, of course, video scoreboards. I'd also like to see seamless glass around the ice.

2. I'm not sure if they're that much more defensive, except that they're better at it. They're not as defensive as, say, Bemidji State was this weekend (Mike Dorr told me yesterday that the Beavers were very frustrating to play against because of that style). They still try to be a puck-possession team when they can and have put a lot of shots on net this season. They're a low-scoring team because they just don't have the goal scorers.

From Alex: 1. the second line with grant and galiardi have stayed the same while the other wing on that line keeps getting rotated is the plan to keep rotating lehrke, mcinnis and leivermann in? 2. have they made changes to their power play at all this week in practice? 3. what team do you think we matchup against the best for the playoffs?

Alex, 1. I don't think that is necessarily a lock. Leivermann practiced on that line on Wednesday but Lehrke was also in the lineup. There aren't a lot of spots to rotate those guys through though. I think they like the Dorr-Sackrison-Hayes line as well as the Mueller-Schiller-Louwerse line together. Zuck and Jokinen have played well together, too, and the other winger there (Burkemper, much of the time) has been another spot they have made changes.

2. They did a lot of power play work yesterday and did appear to mix things up a bit at times. If they stick with that, I'll address that more on Friday night during the game.

3. Ah, it's that time of year, isn't it? Who do the Mavs match up best against? I'm curious to see how they do against CC and UMD this weekend and next. I don't think they (or anyone else, for that matter,) want to go to Denver or North Dakota. I think they'd play a lot better against Omaha than they did last November (that's the current matchup, if the season ended today), and they played Wisconsin tough a few weeks ago. Egad, could it be Minnesota? What if Anchorage gets home ice?

From Jeff: My question goes with Alex's #3 regarding playoff matchups. What's the best we can hope for in the next 4 weeks and what's the worst that can happen? I realize a month is a long time and we have the ability to earn (or lose) 12 points.

Jeff, I think the best-case scenario is a run that puts them in the sixth spot, maybe fifth (although every team except Anchorage has two games in hand on MSU). They could also finish as low as 11th (I can't imagine Tech going on any kind of run to move ahead of them). I think staying out of the bottom three spots, so as to avoid Denver and North Dakota and maybe Duluth would be best.

From Nation: What has the message been at practice this week? Has the powerplay been the focus?

Nation, As I mentioned earlier, there was a lot of power-play work being done yesterday, so we'll see  what happens there. No question they need to find ways to score there. Going 0 for 10 last weekend -- especially going scoreless on the major and the 5x3 -- absolutely killed them. Other than that, the message (which I'm writing about for Friday's Freep preview) is to get back to playing they way they have since Thanksgiving. Saturday was a clunker, and every team has those over the course of a season. But they can't let the clunker turn into a lousy stretch of hockey. They have to hope it's a blip and move on. Both Jutting and players said it's been a good week of practice.

You Want Answers?!?!

 The Mavericks have three regular-seasons series remaining, starting this weekend at Colorado College, and you know what that means: It's that time again. Time for your questions. Time for my answers. Ask away in the comments section of this post, and I'll give you my 2 cents by Thursday.

In the meantime, read today's column in The Free Press.

Bemidji State 4, MSU 1

Freddy's three thoughts of the game:

1. This one hurts: The Mavericks played their worst game in two months and it cost them a chance to get within two points of the upper tier of the WCHA standings. The loss was MSU's first against an unranked team since it lost at Michigan Tech on Oct. 15. They put 41 shots on goal and got just one past the outstanding Dan Bakala, who had 81 saves on 84 shots in the series split. The Mavericks scored first but, like Friday, let the Beavers hang around. Bemidji State scored four unanswered goals en route to the win.

2. Galiardi snakebit: MSU captain Rylan Galiardi had team-high eight shots on goal but couldn't get the puck past Bakala. "I had at least five gold chances," said Galiardi, who was robbed on a point-blank chance during a 5x3 power play early in the second period. Later in the period he put an open shot off the post after getting a nice pass from Corey Leivermann. "There's lots of disappointment," Galiardi said. "Getting ... two points would have been a big step in the right direction. We didn't take advantage. We're disappointed for sure."

3. Bouncing back? It will be interesting to see how the Mavericks respond to the loss. They have been playing very good hockey since Thanksgiving, and they may have been due for a clunker. Up next is a road series Colorado College, which split a series against rival Denver, followed by Minnesota Duluth and Anchorage at home over the final three weeks of the season (MSU is idle between those series). What's troubling though is the goal-scoring issue. Three goals in two games against Bemidji, and only one of those came from a forward (Michael Dorr on Saturday).

Read Saturday's box score here.

Minnesota State vs. Bemidji State - Game 2 live blog

A couple of line changes tonight for the Mavs. Leivermann for Lehrke and Mosey for Nelson. Lines can be found below the live blog ...



MINNESOTA STATE
23-Dorr   21-Sackrison   25-Hayes
20-Grant   12-Galiardi   11-Leivermann
15-Burkemper   29-Zuck   14-Jokinen
24-Mueller   26-Schiller   9-Louwerse

28-Boe   22-Davis
16-Elbrecht    5-Youds
3-Cooper   17-Mosey

30-Cook
1-Lee
35-Karambelas

Scratches: Heath, McInnis, Lehrke, Nelson, Peterson

BEMIDJI STATE
28-George   19-Read   18-Illo
16-Billberg   14-McLeod   22-Lowe
17-MacQueen   13-Fisher   15-Cramer
7-Orban   12-Jubinville   6-Findlay

8-Areshenko   29-Hunt
20-Rendle   3-Adams
5-Carlson   4-MacIntyre

33-Bakala
35-Dugas

Referees: Jon Campion, Brian Thul. Linesmen: Tony Czech, Dan Dineen.