Minnesota State (12-18-2, 6-17-2 WCHA) vs. No. 4 St. Cloud State (20-10-4, 15-8-3)
7:05 p.m. Verizon Wireless Center (Fri.); 7:05 p.m. National Hockey Center, St. Cloud (Sat.)
TV:Charter Main Street (Ch. 14) Radio:1420 KTOE
RECAP: Minnesota State looks to end the regular season on a high note and upset No. 4 St. Cloud State after suffering a sweep at the hands of top-ranked Denver last weekend. A confidence-building win or two would be perfect heading into the WCHA Playoffs, especially since the Mavericks are battling Alaska-Anchorage for the No. 8 seed.
HISTORY: MSU is 57-42-9 all-time against the Huskies but 11-18-3 in Division I play dating back to 1998. The Mavericks have the upper hand in the series lately, owning a 9-4-2 record against SCSU since 2004. MSU ended the 2009 regular season with a 5-1 win against the Huskies at the National Hockey Center and a 4-4 tie the next night at the Verizon Wireless Center.
SO CLOSE, SO FAR: The Mavericks took Denver to the limits last week, outshooting the No. 1 Pioneers 69-56 for the series but the difference was on special teams. Denver scored on four of its nine power play chances while the Mavericks went 1 for 13.
Jerad Stewart leads the Mavericks in goals with 13 and is third on the team in points with 22. Ben Youds is MSU's assists leader with 21 and is second on the team in points with 23. Zach Harrison leads the Mavericks in overall scoring with 24 points (eight goals and 16 assists).
SCSU NOTES: MSU's poor scoring defense - the Mavericks allow 3.38 goals per game - will go up against the WCHA's second-best scoring offense in SCSU - which coincidentally scores 3.38 goals per game in WCHA action. The smallest explosive combo in terms of height - Garrett Roe (5 feet 9 inches) and Ryan Lasch (5 feet 7 inches) - lead the Huskies offense. Lasch has 17 goals and 22 assists for 39 points and Roe has 14-23-37.
SCSU also has a duo in net. Junior Dan Dunn typically starts Fridays and freshman Mike Lee is usually the Saturday starter. Dunn has the 14th best save percentage in the nation at .918 with a 12-2-1 record.
KEYS TO THE SERIES: The Mavericks could do themselves a big favor by shutting the SCSU offense down in the first period because the Huskies have trouble finishing games. SCSU scores more first period goals (31) than everyone besides Wisconsin but the Huskies have one of the league's lowest third period goal totals (23) and have allowed 26 goals in the third period, third highest in the WCHA.
If MSU gets a fast start and plays better on special teams, its very possible the Mavericks grab some points in their last chance to gain momentum going into playoffs.
Tyler Buckentine is a Reporter staff writer
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