Anyone see scores from around the WCHA last night? A pair of 3-2 scores, a pair of 1-0 scores and a 2-2 tie. Not much is separating teams in this conference right now, that's for sure. But if you look at those standings, you see one thing: Colorado College pulling away.
The Tigers have a four-point edge on Denver, which if things go the way they have, will lose to North Dakota tonight. UMD and Tech are both right behind with 12 and 11 points.
The bad news for the Mavericks was their tie last night. A win would have been huge for this team, because they would have leap-frogged UAA in the standings and would have been in position to jump Minnesota and Wisconsin tonight. At the very least, they would have pulled even with SCSU, which its in sixth place. If MSU wins tonight and Wisconsin loses, next weekend's series is critical. After starting the season so well, the Badgers have really come back to the pack. Shane Connelly is not Brian Elliott, so if you can shut down their first line and take your chances, you have to like your odds.
But first, there is tonight. Troy Jutting and Scott Sandelin are both expecting more of the same. Although he wouldn't commit to it for sure, it sounds like Mike Zacharias will get he start in net for MSU. Alex Stalock has started every game so far this season for UMD, so there is no reason to think he won't play again tonight. I wasn't overly impressed with either goaltender last night; both played well, but didn't have to make any fantastic, game-saving saves. They made the saves they had to. Zacharias didn't have a chance on UMD's second goal as it was deflected to the net.
That is something I feel MSU needs to do more of. Far too many times last night, a Maverick player was shooting the puck from the outside and there was no traffic around Stalock. The MSU power-play was a bit conservative, too. Although it moved the puck well and maintained possession, it didn't fire many quality shots on Stalock. UMD did a good job of shutting down shooting lanes.
Should be a fun game tonight! Hopefully the snow doesn't keep any of you from the arena, but if it does, check out the blog, as I'll keep scoring updates coming and try to offer intermission thoughts. The game is on Charter Channel 14 as well...
Talk to you all in a few hours!
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