Mavericks swept

As most already know, the Mavericks took a 5-2 loss at the hands of red-hot Denver last night at the Alltel Center. The Mavericks have been struggling lately, losing their last four games.

Read Friday night's recap here, and Saturday's here.

Denver 3, Minnesota State 2 - End of 2

Adam Mueller scored his first goal of the season 17 seconds into the period on a breakaway and Mike Louwerse added a power-play goal at 8:06 to tie the game. Denver, however, was able to get yet another last minute goal, when Glasser netted his second of the game at 19:05. The Pioneers are now outshooting the Mavericks 25-15.

Denver 2, Minnesota State 0 - End of 1

Matt Glasser put Denver on the board at 13:55 and Jesse Martin added his third goal of the series with just 10 seconds remaining in the period. Denver outshot the Mavericks 15-4. Minnesota State didn't get its first shot on goal until midway through the period. The Mavericks went 0-1 on the power play, Denver went 0-3.

Minnesota State vs. Denver Pregame

As most know the Mavericks could not complete the comeback last night and dropped the series opener 3-2. After a knee-to-knee hit last night Andy Sackrison and Tyler Bozak are both out tonight. Also out is James Gaulrapp, and Jerad Stewart and Jason Wiley are still nursing injuries. A big change in the Mavericks lineup tonight is that Channing Boe will be playing left wing on the fourth line. Without looking it up, I'm about 99 percent sure this is Boe's first game at MSU as a forward. The puck drops in about 35 minutes. Starters in bold.

Minnesota State
Adam Mueller-Trevor Bruess-Kael Mouillierat
Geoff Irwin-Rylan Galiardi-Mike Louwerse
Tyler Thompson-Zach Harrison-Mick Berge
Channing Boe-Joe Schiller-Justin Jokinen

Kurt Davis-Brian Kilburg
Cameron Cooper-Ben Youds
Blake Friesen-Nick Canzanello

Mike Zacharias
Dan Tormey
Austin Lee

Denver
Joe Colborne-Tyler Ruegsegger-Kyle Ostrow
Anthony Maiani-Jesse Martin-Rhett Rakhshani
Nate Dewhurst-Brandon Vossberg-Luke Salazar
Matt Glasser-Brian Gifford-Dustin Jackson

Patrick Mullen-John Lee
J.P. Testwuide-Cody Brookwell
John Ryder-Chris Nutini

Marc Cheverie
Lars Paulgaard

Denver 3, Minnesota State 1, End of 2

Jesse Martin had two goals and Joe Colborne had the first of the period as Denver got out to a 3-0 lead. All three goals where plays where Zacharias really couldn't do much. Tyler Thompson netted MSU's first goal in the final minutes of the period to make it 3-1. Will Thompson's tally give the Mavericks momentum for the third? We'll see.....

Denver 0, Minnesota State 0, End of 1

Denver had a power-play chance just 27 seconds into the period but couldn't convert. Denver went 0-3 on the power play, the Mavericks went 0-2. The Mavericks had a five-on-three for 1:29, but couldn't get off more than a couple shots.

Tyler Bozak was stuffed on the doorstep by Mike Zacharias on a power play and Trevor Bruess hit the post when driving through the slot, which he drew a penalty on. Other than those, not too many great scoring opportunities. See you at the second intermission.

Mavericks vs. Pioneers Pregame

About 30 minutes to game time and a few lineup changes. Nick Canzanello, who's been in and out of the lineup this year, is out in favor of Cameron Cooper. Otherwise, Jerad Stewart and Jason Wiley are still injured and remain out. For Denver, freshman defenseman Patrick Wiercioch is out of the lineup, trying out for Team Canada in the World Juniors Tournament. Which, is good news for the Mavericks. Starters in bold.

Minnesota State
Andrew Sackrison-Trevor Bruess-Mike Louwerse
Kael Mouillierat-Geoff Irwin-Mick Berge
James Gaulrapp-Zach Harrison-Tyler Thompson
Adam Mueller-Rylan Galiardi-Joe Schiller

Kurt Davis-Brian Kilburg
Channing Boe-Ben Youds
Blake Friesen

Mike Zacharias
Dan Tormey
Austin Lee

Denver
Rhett Rakhshani-Tyler Bozak-Luke Salazar
Joe Colborne-Tyler Ruegsegger-Kyle Ostrow
Anthony Maiani-Jesse Martin-Brandon Vossberg
Matt Glasser-Brian Gifford-Dustin Jackson

Patrick Mullen-John Lee
J.P. Testwuide-Cody Brookwell
John Ryder-Chris Nutini

Marc Cheverie
Lars Paulgaard

Mavs drop to 14th

No surprise the Mavericks drop to 14th after getting swept by the Huskies. St. Cloud State moves up to 17th and Wisconsin is starting to creep up, now at 16th.

And in last weeks poll on here, two of 10 people were right saying Mick Berge would lead the Mavericks in points over the weekend. Berge had three assists and was tied for the weekend lead with Kael Mouillierat, who had three goals. Mouillierat wasn't on the poll because his availability was uncertain at the beginning of the week. Probably a good guess that both guys would have gave up all their points to at least get 0ne W. Nice to see Mouillierat scoring some goals after being out, though.

Big week on the way

By now I'm sure everyone knows the Huskies won convincingly Saturday night at the National Hockey Center. And now, the Mavericks have a big rebound series this weekend with Denver at home. The Reporter won't come out for a while now, but I'll still try to update some things this week and next weekend. And I'll be at both Denver games this weekend for some updates.

Huskies 4, Mavericks 2

Aaron Marvin added the only goal ofthe third period, making it a 4-2 final in favor of the Huskies. MSU outshot SCSU 12-8 in the period but couldn't convert on a five-on-three midway through the period to help bring them back. The Mavericks and Huskies finish the series Saturday in St. Cloud.

Read Friday night's recap here.

Huskies 3, Mavericks 2 -- End of 2nd

Garrett Roe put the Huskies on the board at 14:26 of the second and added another at 16:50 on a power play. Kael Mouillierat answered a minute later when he scored from the doorstep on a pass from Andy Sackrison to tie it again at three. SCSU then took the lead heading into the break with a goal by Jordy Christian in the final minute. Four goals in the last six minutes of the second period could lead to an exciting final frame...

Mavericks 1, Huskies 0 -- End of 1

Kael Mouillierat scored the period's only goal at 6:26 of the first period. Zach Harrison had the puck in the corner and passed to Ben Youds on the blue line. Youds shot toward the net and Mouillierat put it over Jase Weslosky's right shoulder on a deflection from the slot. This is Mouillierat's first game back after missing the previous five. SCSU was 0-3 on the power play and MSU was 0-1.

MSU vs. SCSU Pregame

The lines shuffled a big for the Mavericks, and Tyler Thompson is out with Justin Jokinen and Adam Mueller in. Andy Sackrison and Kael Mouillierat are also back in the lineup after missing games dues to injury.

Minnesota State
Irwin - Bruess - Wiley
Gaulrapp - Galiardi - Louwerse
Mueller - Harrison - Berge
Mouillierat - Sackrison - Jokinen

Davis - Kilburg
Canzanello - Friesen
Boe - Youds

Zacharias
Tormey
Lee

St. Cloud State

Swanson - Marvin - Novak
Christian - Roe - Lasch
Olson - Oslund - Ryan
Mosey - LeBlanc - Volpei

Carlisle - Raboin
Lauridsen - Barta
Zabkowicz - Hepp

Weslosky
Dunn

Weekend Preview

Just less than six hours now until the puck drops tonight at the Alltel Center with the first game of the home-and-home series vs. the Huskies. Kael Mouillierat will be back in the lineup tonight, after missing the last five games and Andy Sackrison has been cleared to play. Jerad Stewart, however, will be out this weekend.

Jutting said earlier in the week that all or zero of those three forwards might be in the lineup, but it looks like it will be two.

I'll post the line charts when I get to the rink. See ya there. Oh yeah, forgot my MSU prediction to match the ones below. The Mavericks have been very good against St. Cloud State in the past, and I think will be OK again. MSU sweep.

Other WCHA matchups
No. 8 Denver at Michigan Tech
The Pioneers are coming off a 4-1 victory against No. 10 Air Force last weekend, but travel to Houghton, Mich., still looking for their first road win (0-3). The Huskies, however, were swept by Bemidji State last weekend and went winless in the month of November (0-8-1). With Tech struggling to score goals and Denver not, I'm going to look past Denver's away record and say it will be fine this weekend.
Prediction: Denver sweep

No. 15 Alaska-Anchorage at Wisconsin
Despite the Seawolves' unpredictable start to the season, they happen to be running into a very good Wisconsin team that's playing its best hockey of the season right now. The Badgers have won seven of their last nine after a winless October. UAA was off last weekend after splitting with Colorado College the series before in Anchorage. The Seawolves have earned some quality wins this season but with how the Badgers are playing as of late, I have to go with the Badgers.
Prediction: Wisconsin sweep

Minnesota-Duluth at No. 5 Colorado College
The Bulldogs haven't been on the road for quite some time and the Tigers have lost just one game in Colorado Springs this season. UMD has been playing well lately, coming off a 5-1 win against St. Cloud State in Duluth on Saturday.
Prediction: Split

Nonconference
North Dakota at Harvard
The Fighting Sioux shouldn't have a problem in this series, but if they do, they're going to be in trouble.
Prediction: North Dakota sweep

Wednesday update

Not too much to report tonight. Andy Sackrison and Kael Mouillierat both practiced today, but Jerad Stewart didn't. Jutting said all three might play or all three might not. We'll find out tomorrow.

Tomorrow's Reporter will have a Gameday, along with small blurbs about the other WCHA games this weekend.

Here's another preview

No. 11 Minnesota State (8-3-3, 5-3-2 WCHA) vs. St. Cloud State (8-6-0, 3-5-0 WCHA) (home-and-home)

7:07 p.m. Friday, Alltel Center

7:37 p.m. Saturday, National Hockey Center — St. Cloud

By looking at stats, both teams are virtually identical. Both have scored 49 goals, MSU has given up two more (36), both kill penalties at 81 percent and their power-play success is just 1.2 percent different. MSU - 17.2; SCSU - 16.

Last season the Mavericks had a pair of 5-3 wins against the Huskies in another home and home series and played a physical style of hockey that made SCSU look overmatched. The main key to the game, however, might be stopping Ryan Lasch and Garrett Roe from scoring. Roe is off to a very good start, with seven goals and 21 points on the season, but Lasch is still stuck with just one goal, which came in the Huskies' second game of the season.

Dan Dunn and Jase Weslosky have both been good in net this year, with Dunn owning a 2.35 GAA and Weslosky at 2.38. Weslosky will most likely start Friday, and is a big reason St. Cloud State isn't struggling more than it is already.

BOTTOM LINE: The Mavericks need to finish. Twice at home this season they've had games slip away at the end. It's not even a stretch to say they would be in first place in the WCHA right now if not for a late-period downfall.

I'll give a quick preview of the other conference games Thursday or Friday, and an update on some injuries if I can. Otherwise, I'll be at the Alltel Center Friday for pregame and ingame coverage.

Mavericks drop

Despite a win and tie against nonconference opponent Bowling Green last weekend the Mavericks dropped from No. 10 to No. 11 in the polls. The team that jumped the Mavericks, however, was Air Force, who lost for the first time last weekend to Denver after beating Colorado College the night before.

MSU plays three of its next four games at home, hosting St. Cloud State Friday and playing in St. Cloud Saturday. The Mavericks host Denver the following weekend.

I'll be back Wednesday afternoon or night to update this weekend's matchup, and see if a couple injured forwards will be back in the lineup.