Of the Hop
Minnesota State stands 28-4-2 overall and is 22-3-1 WCHA after picking up 10-0 and 8-0 wins over Alabama Huntsville last weekend.

After coming it at #3 the eight previous times, the Mavericks, who have won 23 of their last 27 games, are rated second in this week's USCHO poll.

Vs. the Beavers
Minnesota State closes out the 2019-20 regular season with a pair of league games at Bemidji State Friday and Saturday.  The Mavericks own a six-point lead over Bemidji State in the race for the MacNaughton Cup as WCHA regular-season champions and have clinched at least a share of the WCHA regular-season title.

Minnesota State stands 59-57-20 in the all-time series vs. Bemidji State and including a 2-0 win at the Mariucci Classic on Dec. 29 of this year and a home split with the Beavers in Mankato Jan. 24-25, Minnesota State heads into this weekend's series having gone 9-2-1 in the last 12 games vs. Bemidji State.

Behind the Bench
Minnesota State has gone 211-84-23 under the tutelage of head coach Mike Hastings (St. Cloud State '93), who is in his eighth season in charge of the Mavericks. No program in the nation has won more games (211) during the time Hastings has been behind the MSU bench.

Less Than Zero
Sophomore Dryden McKay, who was named Western Collegiate Hockey Association Goaltender of the Week for the seventh time this year following the home league sweep over Alabama Huntsville, picked up shutouts #9 and #10 of the season by stopping all 30 shots he faced in the two games vs. the Chargers.  

McKay, who has not given up a goal in the last three games (a span of 191:49 dating back to the last time he gave up a goal in a 7-3 win over Northern Michigan on Feb. 7), has a school-record 14 shutouts for his Minnesota State career. For the year, McKay stands 27-3-2 (27 wins leads nation) with a 1.28 goals against average (leads nation), .942 save percentage (leads nation) and ten shutouts (leads nation). His ten shutouts this year tie for second all-time in NCAA history (Greg Gardner of Niagara had 12 in 1999-2000).

Center of Attention
Senior captain Marc Michaelis registered five points on three goals and two assists in the two wins over Alabama Huntsville last weekend.  In his first game back following a seven-game absence due to injury, Michaelis had a goal and two assists in Friday's game.  He followed up with a pair of goals in Saturday's contest. Michaelis, who leads Minnesota State in scoring with 19-19--38 on the season, stands tied for seventh in the nation in points. He's registered 70-86--156 in 144 career games to rank third on Minnesota State's career scoring list and his 70 goals is the most scored by any Maverick player during the program's NCAA DI-era (surpassing 68 goals scored by Shane Joseph from 1999-04).

The Book of Luke
Freshman forward Lucas Sowder picked up WCHA Rookie of the Week honors after chalking up four points on two goals and two assists in the series with Alabama Huntsville last weekend.  Sowder scored a goal and was +2 with three shots on goal in Friday's 10-0 win over the Chargers and followed that up with a goal and two assists in Saturday's 8-0 victory. Saturday's goal is his third game-winning goal of the season and with 6-21--27 on the year, Sowder stands tied for fifth in the nation in freshmen scoring.

Ian Keeled
Senior blueliner Ian Scheid accumulated four points on a goal and three assists in the two-game league home sweep over Alabama Huntsville last weekend. Scheid had a goal and four shots on goal and was +2 in Friday's 10-0 win before contributing three assists  in Saturday's 8-0 victory. Scheid, who hasn't missed a game in his four-year Minnesota State career, has 2-18--20 on the season and with 24-71--95 in 155 games, ranks fifth all-time at Minnesota State in defensemen scoring.

Three's Company
Senior captain Nick Rivera collected his first career hat trick when he scored three times in Saturday's 8-0 win over Alabama Huntsville last Saturday. The Pacific Palisades, Calif., native, who owns 33-26--59 numbers in 147 games played, has 9-3--12 in 2019-20.

Chuck-A-Puck
Senior forward Charlie Gerard scored his seventh career game-winning goal in Friday's victory over UAH and for the season has 13-15--28 in 33 games played.  For his four-year Minnesota State career, Gerard has posted 30-38--68 in 117 games.

WD-40
Junior winger Walker Duehr extended his point-scoring streak to four games with his four-point (1-3--4) weekend in the two-game series vs. Alabama Huntsville. Now with 3-11--14 in 28 games this year, the Sioux Falls, S.D., product has 15-18--33 in 70 career games.

80's on 8
Freshman forward Nathan Smith racked up four assists in the series vs. Alabama Huntsville and for the season has totalled 7-17--24, which ties for eighth in the nation in freshmen scoring.

Original 6
Senior forward Parker Tuomie scored twice and assisted on another in the UAH series in upping his season totals to  13-20--33.  Tuomie now has 44-84--128 in 148 games for his four-year Minnesota State career with his 128 points ranking sixth on Minnesota State's career point-scoring list.

Nap Time
Sophomore forward Julian Napravnik had two goals and an assist vs. UAH and now has 9-14--23 in 29 games played this year.  For his two-year college career Napravnik has a line of 17-27--44 in 72 career games.

16 Candles
Junior forward Reggie Lutz, who had a goal and an assist in the UAH series, has 11-8--19 in 34 games this year. Lutz, who ranks third on the team with 93 shots on goal, has 25-37--62 in 109 career games played.

We're Going Streaking
Junior winger Dallas Gerads, who had an assist in both games vs. UAH, has extended his point-scoring streak to eight games during which he's accumulated 4-5--9.  His season totals are 6-16--22 in 29 games played and for his three-year career, the Blaine, Minn., native has 25-32--57 in 93 games played.

Digits
Minnesota State has scored the game's first goal in 27 of 34 games this year and owns a 25-1-1 record when doing so.  The Mavericks own a 26-0-0 mark when leading after two periods of play this season.

After 34 games played in 2019-20, the Mavericks rank first in the nation in wins (28), first in goals against average (1.44), goals for (136), goal margin (+87), shots on goal margin (+368) and face-off percentage (.561). Minnesota State stands second  in penalty kill percentage (.910) and is third in power play percentage (.269).