MSU vs. Alabama Huntsville - Game 2 live blog

Lines can be found below the live blog ...

MINNESOTA STATE

12-LaFontaine ... 18-Leitner ... 9-Gervais
21-Grant ... 23-Blueger ... 19-Lehrke
25-Stepan ... 26-Margonari ... 22-McInnis
24-Knowles ... 17-Huntebrinker ... 8-Gaede

28-Jutzi ... 5-Foguth
27-Stern ... 7-Palmquist
11-Flanagan ... 2-Josh Nelson

35-Williams
34-Huggins
31-Karambelas

Scratches: Buchanan, Herndon, Knoll, Casey Nelson, Jordan Nelson, Thompson

ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE

6-Carlson ... 3-Fletcher ... 23-Marooney
8-Allan ... 16-Reid ... 21-Vanderlugt
12-Soquila ... 11-Prince ... 9-Brears
57-Geoffrion ... 19-Pierce ... 18-Clowes

26-Schools ... 4-Misuraca
28-Reinhardt ... 2-Strukoff
3-White ... 24-Koshey

35-Guerriero
30-Larose

Referees: Marco Hunt, Scott Bokel. Linesmen: Rick Nelson, Matt Tyree

Mavericks 4, Chargers 0

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. Starting strong: The Mavericks wanted a good start to Friday's game, and not just because Huntsville's buses arrived in Mankato 2 1/2 hours before game time. Coach Mike Hastings talked about falling behind twice last weekend to Bemidji State and didn't want that to happen again at home. The Mavericks came out flying, outshooting the Chargers 19-5 and scoring three goal — an even-strength goal, a short-hander and a power-play goal.

2. Offensive defensemen: Defensemen scored two of the Mavericks' four goals. Zach Palmquist slipped down low on the weak side to punch in a nice pass from Michael Huntebrinker, and Sean Flanagan scored the power-play goal on a blast from the blue line in the middle of the rink. Palmquist finished with a goal and an assist, and Hastings said he had a special night. His scoring may be down a bit from last year, but he said, "To be a plus player for me is the most important part, being defensively sound."

3. Twice for Bryce: Bryce Gervais scored two goals for the Mavericks and now has nine for the season. He finds ways to get open and makes sure to let everyone in the rink know about it. Matt Leitner found him for the short-handed goal that made it 2-0, and Palmquist made a nice pass up the middle of the rink to him for a mini-breakaway on the power play in the third period. "Those guys delivered it right on the tape, and he finished" Hastings said. "I think it it's a great example of if you want it, you call for it and guys will find you."

Read more in my game story here.

Around the WCHA: Alaska 7, Michigan Tech 3 ... Lake Superior 5, Northern Michigan 3 ... Ferris State 4, Bemidji State 1 ... Bowling Green at Alaska Anchorage (late)

MSU vs. Alabama Huntsville - Game 1 live blog

Lines can be found below the live blog ...

MINNESOTA STATE

21-Grant ... 26-Margonari ... 22-McInnis
12-LaFontaine ... 23-Blueger ... 25-Stepan
9-Gervais ... 18-Leitner ... 19-Lehrke
24-Knowles ... 17-Huntebrinker ... 8-Gaede

28-Jutzi ... 5-Foguth
27-Stern ... 7-Palmquist
11-Flanagan ... 2-Josh Nelson

34-Huggins
35-Williams
31-Karambelas

Scratches: Buchanan, Herndon, Knoll, Casey Nelson, Jordan Nelson, Thompson

ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE

8-Allan ... 16-Reid ... 21-Vanderlugt
25-Broberg ... 33-Fletcher ... 23-Marooney
5-McKenna ... 19-Pierce ... 18-Clowes
12-Soquila ... 11-Prince ... 9-Brears

6-Carlson ... 4-Misuraca
28-Reinhardt ... 2-Strukoff
3-White ... 24-Koshey

30-Larose
35-Guerriero

Referees: Marco Hunt, Scott Bokel. Linesmen: Rick Nelson, Matt Tyree

Friday Morning Skate (Weather's Better Here Edition)

Sounds like Alabama Huntsville had a little travel trouble after the ice storm in the south, but the Chargers are expected to arrive today for this weekend's series against Minnesota State.

The Mavericks are chasing Ferris State for first place in the WCHA and hope for no hiccups this weekend against 10th-place UAH. No overlooking the Chargers, though, who may have only three points but stole two of them on the road.

"It's about us getting better," Mavericks coach Hastings said after Thursday's practice. "We're trying to develop the mental maturity as a group to set the bar one weekend and work at pushing that bar north every day"

Minnesota State's lines appeared to be the same as last week against Bemidji State, although freshman Jordan Nelson returned to practice after missing a week with injury. Hastings said final lines will be decided after today's morning skate.

In goal, freshman Cole Huggins came into the season with little expectations for playing time, but he has played the bulk of MSU's minutes between the pipes. Apparently, watching the Denver Pioneers' great goaltenders a decade or so ago rubbed off on the goalie.

For more on this weekend's series, check out The Free Press' gameday preview.

Going around the WCHA, there's a full slate of games (finally!) and some serious playoff implications ...

Alaska at Michigan Tech: The Nanooks are scoring goals this season and are hoping to avenge a pair of losses to the Huskies in their own barn earlier this season. Tech is rolling a bit right now, having won four games in a row and leapfrogging into third place a week ago.

Lake Superior at Northern Michigan: The Lakers and Wildcats are trying to avoid that ninth-place spot in the WCHA and getting left out of the postseason. Lake Superior holds that spot now but is just one point behind NMU, which plays five of its next six games at home.

Ferris State at Bemidji State: The Bulldogs will try to maintain their spot atop the WCHA standings, while the Beavers try to stay in the hunt for home ice. Bemidji State certainly feels like it can hang with any team (including MSU last weekend), but can it get over the hump?

Bowling Green at Alaska Anchorage: These two teams are tied for fourth place (the final home-ice spot), and the series could end up deciding who's at home and who's at home for the playoffs. The Seawolves, who have been excellent at home this season, are hoping to host a playoff series for the first time in their history.

Speaking of home ice, the conference's top teams have enjoyed the comforts of home this season, especially Minnesota State, which is 11-1-0 in Mankato. That leads off this week's USCHO conference notebook. Also, check out my and Matt Wellens' weekend picks.

Backes, U.S. rout Slovakia

Associated Press

Minnesota State alum David Backes (42) scored one of Team USA's goals on Thursday as part of a 7-1 victory over Slovakia in the team's first game at the Sochi Olympics. Backes swatted in the puck during a scramble in front of the net, giving the U.S. a 4-1 lead at the time. Backes, the St. Louis Blues' star, was playing on a line with the Minnesota Wild's Zach Parise and the New York Rangers' Ryan Callahan.

Backes isn't the only MSU alum playing in the Winter Games. In women's hockey, Team Finland has Nina Tikkinen (pictured below at left) — she won a bronze medal four years ago —and Team Sweden has Emilia Andersson. Sweden plays another preliminary game today. Finland has advanced to the quarterfinals and will play Saturday.

Associated Press

Flanagan earns WCHA honor

Minnesota State freshman defenseman Sean Flanagan was named this week's WCHA rookie of the week for his performance in last weekend's series sweep over Bemidji State. 

Flanagan scored the game-winning goal on Saturday and finished the weekend with the one goal, four shots on goal, six blocked shots and a +2 rating.

Flanagan has five points in his last five games and 11 for the season. He leads the Mavericks at +8 in 22 games. He has scored two game-winning goals.

The WCHA's other players of the week were Michigan Tech's Blake Pietila (offensive) and Ferris State goaltender C.J. Motte (defensive).

Mavericks 3, Beavers 2

Freddy's three thoughts of the game ...

1. A tale of two majors: Both Minnesota State and Bemidji State were assessed major penalties for checking from behind during the second period. So what did they do with them? The Mavericks scored two goals — one each from Johnny McInnis and Jean-Paul LaFontaine (who else?). The Beavers were shut out by a darn-good penalty kill by the Mavericks. MSU actually had to kill off 7:32 of penalty time, including 63 seconds of 5x3 time at the front end and 31 seconds of 5x3 at the back end. Matt Leitner was outstanding on the PK, taking "a couple of bullets," coach Mike Hastings said, blocking Matt Prapavessis' shots. Leitner played so many minutes of special-teams time in the second period that he went to the locker room early and had his shifts limited in the third period.

2. Flanagan finds his form: I think the Mavericks have a good one in freshman defenseman Sean Flanagan. You can read more about him in my game story (link below), but the kid who scored the game-winning goal seems to be improving week by week. He's played in just 21 of the Mavericks' 30 games and was on the third set of defensemen this weekend, but he could be in a more prominent role in years to come. Considering his limited time this season, he now has four goals and seven assists for 11 points, which ranks second behind Zach Palmquist in scoring among MSU's defensemen. And the Mavericks needed someone to step up and eat some minutes after Carter Foguth (another freshman D who's playing well) went out with the checking-from-behind major in the second.

3. Home sweet home: The Mavericks improved their home record to 11-1-0 and have won nine consecutive games at the Verizon Wireless Center. For all of their struggles on the road, they've been pretty darn good in Mankato. Saturday's crowd of 4,089 was a good to see, too. It was the second-largest home crowd of the season. Minnesota State plays four of its final six regular-season games at home, starting next weekend against Alabama Huntsville. With the sweep, the Mavericks remain two points behind first-place Ferris State, although the Bulldogs have two games in hand. MSU has a six-point lead on third-place Michigan Tech.

Read the game story here.

Around the WCHA: Michigan Tech 10, Alabama Huntsville 4 ... Ferris State 2, Northern Michigan 1, Alaska Anchorage 5, Lake Superior 2