MANKATO, Minn. – Ten different players recorded a point and Alex Tracy reeled in his third career shutout with 18 saves as Minnesota State topped Northern Michigan 4-0 Saturday night at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in front of 4,981 fans.
 
A win and a tie on the weekend propelled the Mavericks into a first-place tie in the CCHA standings with MSU's next opponent St. Thomas.
 
"I thought the guys earned the way we played," said head coach Luke Strand. "There was a standard kept. Saturday we tend to find our way."
 
After three goalposts struck, Tyler Haskins finally lit the lamp with a wraparound backhand goal 14:28 into the opening period for the Mavericks. Haskins' fourth of the season book-ended a flurry of shots at even strength. Connor Gregga (2) and Will Hillman (3) assisted and Minnesota State took a 1-0 lead into the break.
 
"The scary part is you get looks like that and you hit iron but the game still looks the same and the shots are still pretty even," Strand said. "The fact that the guys were shooting and kept that drive to the net made it a big goal for us at that time. I couldn't be happier for the young man (Haskins) to put his nose to it and be rewarded."
 
Three official reviews led to a lengthy second period, but the Mavericks collected two more goals to make it 3-0. Sam Morton scored his league-leading 19^th on the power play. Morton picked up a fresh hockey stick from the bench and one-timed a pass from Steve Bellini to the top corner at 3:34. Adam Eisele also assisted as Morton extended his current point streak to five games.
 
Zach Krajnik collected his first goal of the season at 11:48. Following an offensive zone faceoff, Krajnik skated into the circle, pulled the puck from his skates to his stick, and weaved around goaltender Michael Mesic to slide it in at the far post unassisted.
 
Josh Groll added insurance with his fifth marker 14:48 into the third period with assists to Brian Carrabes (9) and Jakob Stender (3).
 
Minnesota State (13-9-4, 9-5-2 CCHA) improved to 7-5-1 at home and went 1-6 on the power play. Northern Michigan (8-13-3, 6-9-1 CCHA) dropped to 1-10-2 on the road and failed to convert on one power play opportunity.
 
Morton (a Hobey Baker Award nominee) extended his point streak to five games and Alex Tracy held NMU to just a pair of goals over two games in net. Tracy's first shutout of the season came on January 13 vs. Ferris State.
 
"It was a weird game, certainly feels good to win games," Morton said. "Good bounce back from last night. I thought we were really good through two periods. Relentless deep throughout our lineup and we were doing the right things."
 
The Mavericks have eight regular season games remaining, all against CCHA opponents. The team plays a home-and-home series against St. Thomas beginning Friday, February 2 at 7:07 p.m. in Mendota Heights. The teams play in Mankato on Saturday at 6:07 p.m. CT.