Mavericks capitalize on power plays, sweep Huskies
The men’s hockey team showed up this weekend and are now 5-2 on the young season
The Minnesota State Mavericks men’s hockey team came home for a two-game stint against the Michigan Tech Huskies. It resulted in a two-game winning streak, with wins of 3-1 and 5-3 to move to a record of 5-2 on the season after two penalty-filled games for the Mavericks.
“I thought the guys did a good job of being selfless and blocking shots,” said Maverick head coach Mike Hastings. “Special teams, there’s a reason they call them that, because it’s really important to capitalize when you’re on the power play.”
In the opening game against the Huskies, it was defense that won the game. The Mavs went up 1-0 after a Marc Michaelis goal in the opening period. However, the highlight was the penalty kill in the first two periods, getting six kills to stay up on the Huskies. In the third period Michigan Tech finally broke through with a Justin Misiak goal to tie the game up. The Mavericks responded with a late push on offense resulting in goals from Zeb Knutson and Brad McClure to seal the victory. The Mavericks offense was dominant despite the seven penalties, outshooting the Huskies 34-17.
“Anytime you’re playing a quality team like we were tonight, you’re going to have a close game, and it was nice to get off to a lead,” said Hastings. “Killing as many penalties as we had to tonight, we were lucky to get out of here with a win.”
In game two it was all offense, in another penalty filled game that saw both sides rack up seven trips to the box. This time around the Huskies took a 1-0 lead in the first minute, thanks to Jake Jackson.
Reggie Lutz was quick to answer and Knutson’s early second period goal put the Mavs up 2-0. A power play-goal from Jackson put the Huskies right back in the game later in the second, then took the lead to finish the second period 3-2. However, the Mavs would have another thunderous third period in store. Connor Mackey started off with a score to tie the game for the Mavericks, followed by two power play-goals from Daniel Brickley and C.J. Suess to finish the game in a route. The Mavs were dominant on offense again, using the late-game push to outshoot the Huskies 39-19, able to capitalize on late-game Michigan Tech errors for the win. Both wins go to Maverick goaltender Connor LaCouvee, who has four this season.
“That’s a close game, and there is ebb and flow to every game,” said Hastings. “We expect the games to be real tight with [Michigan] Tech and they always are, just like it was tonight. I don’t think the guys got rattled by it, I think they just stuck with it and Connor stepped up and found a way to make a play.”
The Mavericks hit the road on Nov. 3 and 4 to play the Northern Michigan Wildcats, who are 4-2 after splitting a series with Wisconsin this past weekend.