No. 3 Minnesota (21-7-4) at No. 12 Michigan (17-12-3)

After a straightforward sweep against the Wolverines back in December, series two in Ann Arbor ended up being a much tougher battle for the Gophers. Game one was scoreless through the first period before fifth-year Mason Nevers put Minnesota in front 7:20 into period two. At the close of period two, the Gophers had a second goal overturned, and Michigan flipped the momentum, scoring two quick goals to lead 2-1 at the break.

Midway through the third, the Gophers tied it at 2-2 as Jimmy Clark ended a 13-game goal drought by scoring his fifth goal of the season. Eventually heading to overtime, the Gophers took an unfortunate penalty, and Michigan took full advantage of the extra attacker, winning 3-2. 

Saturday’s rematch saw the Gophers score first again, with Matthew Wood tallying a power play goal 6:59 into the game after the team went 0-for-3 on the power play the night prior. Carrying that one-goal lead into period two, it took the Wolverines only 14 short seconds to tie it, and the 1-1 scoreline held through to period three.

The Gophers gave Michigan a taste of its own medicine to start period three as Oliver Moore struck only 13 seconds in, scoring his eighth goal of the season. Unfortunately, Minnesota allowed Michael Hage to score a dazzling end-to-end goal later in the period to make it 2-2, and the game again went to overtime. Neither team claimed an overtime winner, and the game ended in a tie, with Minnesota falling in the shootout to keep their shootout losing streak alive. 

Remaining in second place in the Big Ten standings with two series remaining in the regular season, Minnesota will first face the surging No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes (20-8-2), who have won four straight games. Playing at home, Friday’s game will start at 7:00 PM with a 5:00 PM start on Saturday. 

Minnesota Duluth (11-15-2) vs. No. 15 Arizona State (17-11-2)

Welcoming a Sun Devils team to Amsoil Arena who swept the Bulldogs back in early December, Minnesota Duluth opened the scoring in game one via a Dominic James power play goal. All square at 1-1 to start period two, Arizona State scored a go-ahead goal 4:55 into the second, but minutes later, the Bulldogs tallied their second power-play goal of the night to retie it.

The final frame went scoreless, with Klayton Knapp making 10 saves in net for UMD, and the game headed to overtime. Halfway through the extra session, Hermantown native and Minnesota Wild draft pick Aaron Pionk made a nice move to the slot before burying the overtime winner for the Bulldogs. 

Game two saw a different Hermantown defenseman start the scoring off for UMD, with Ty Hanson scoring his fourth of the season 2:52 into the game. All knotted up at 1-1 to start the second, Chaska-native Adam Kleber cleaned up a rebound in front to make it 2-1 Bulldogs. Three minutes later, the Sun Devils retied it before Artem Shlaine scored his second of the game to put Arizona State in front 3-2 heading into the third. It took the Bulldogs only 11 short seconds to tie the game at 3-3, with Max Plante welcoming a lucky deflection for his seventh goal this season.

Both goaltenders stonewalled the remaining shots from that point forward as the game headed to overtime for the second night in a row, eventually ending in a tie. Klayton Knapp had a 41-save night for the Bulldogs, improving his stat line this season to a 2.41 GAA and .915 SV% through 13 starts. 

Next up is a road series against No. 19 North Dakota (15-12-2), with game one starting at 7:07 PM on 2/21 and game two on 2/22 at 6:07 PM. 

No. 47 Bemidji State (11-15-4)

Entering the bye weekend after sweeping Michigan Tech on the road, Bemidji State currently sits second from the bottom in the conference standings with two series remaining.

Coming up this weekend, the Beavers will host Bowling Green (15-10-4) before closing out the regular season with a visit to the current CCHA leaders, Minnesota State. Bemidji State has only two players who have surpassed the twenty-point mark in Kirklan Irey (9-13—22) and Eric Martin (10-10—20). 

No. 17 Minnesota State (20-8-2)

Winning four of their previous five games, the Mavericks sit atop the CCHA standings with a 0.697 win percentage in their conference matchups. Before the Mason Cup Quarterfinals kick off on 3/7, Minnesota State will first travel to Lake Superior State (11-17-2) before hosting Bemidji State on 2/28 and 3/1.

With over a point-per-game-average, Rhett Pitlick is the team’s points leader with 32 (12g, 20a), followed by Josh Groll (10-15—25) and Adam Eisele (10-9—19). Junior goaltender Alex Tracy has started all 30 games in net this season and has posted an impressive stat line of a 1.53 GAA and .941 SV%. 

No. 34 St. Cloud State (11-16-1)

In what must be one of the worst runs in program history, going 0-9-1 in their previous 10 games, St. Cloud State has fallen to No. 34 in the Pairwise and eighth place in the NCHC standings. Three series remain for the Huskies, starting with Colorado College (16-13-1) at home this weekend, then Denver and closing with Minnesota Duluth.

The lone player who has surpassed the twenty-point mark is freshman Austin Burnevik (12-10—22), who has notched six points in this 10-game losing stretch. 

No. 43 St. Thomas (12-13-5)

The Tommies have gone 6-3-1 over their previous 10 games and will close out the regular season with a series against Northern Michigan (5-24-1) this weekend before returning home to face Michigan Tech on 2/28 and 3/1. If the regular season were to end now, St. Thomas would receive the No. 5 seed in the CCHA Tournament.

The current points leaders in the clubhouse are Liam Malmquist (12-20—32), Lucas Wahlin (12-16—28) and Cooper Gay (15-10—25). Earning 19 of 30 starts in net this season is junior Aaron Trotter, who has a 7-9-2 record and .909 SV%.