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Posted: Feb 24, 2015

PREVIEW: Huskies Head To Mankato For Showdown With Mavericks

PREVIEW: Huskies Head To Mankato For Showdown With Mavericks

 

No. 3 MICHIGAN TECH at No. 2 MINNESOTA STATE
Date Friday-Saturday, Feb. 27-28, 2015
Time 8:07 p.m. Eastern (both nights)
Location Mankato, Minn. | Verizon Wireless Center
Radio Mix 93.5 FM WKMJ (Dirk Hembroff)
Online Audio Pasty.net
Video Stream wcha.com/men/mtu/tv.php
Game Notes Michigan Tech | Minnesota State
Live Stats CollegeHockeyInc.com
Live Tweeting Twitter.com/mtuhky
Tech's Record 24-7-1 | 19-4-1 WCHA 
MSU's Record 23-6-2 | 19-3-2 WCHA

 

THIS WEEKEND'S NOTES

THIS WEEK'S GAMES
• No. 3 Michigan Tech takes its eight-game winning streak on the road to No. 2 Minnesota State this weekend (Feb. 27-28). The puck drops at 8:07 p.m. Eastern on Friday and Saturday at Verizon Wireless Center.
• Both teams enter the weekend after a bye. MSU swept Tech in the first meeting in Houghton Nov. 21-22 with a pair of one-goal wins.
• Tech is 11-1-1 on the road this season and 10-0-1 in WCHA road play.

ON THE RADIO
Mix 93.5 WKMJ broadcasts all Michigan Tech hockey games. Dirk Hembroff will call all the action in his 13th year behind the microphone. You can also listen to the game online at Pasty.com.

THIS WEEK'S RANKING
Tech bumped up to No. 3 in both the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls. Tech received two first-place votes in the USCHO Poll and one in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll and moved up a spot from last week's No. 4 ranking. It is the 15th week the Huskies have been in the polls. They have been in the top 11 all 15 weeks and were ranked No. 1 on Nov. 17.

HOME PLAYOFFS
Tech locked up home ice with its Feb. 7 win over Bemidji State. The WCHA home playoff series will be on March 13-15. It will be a best-of-three series against a to-be-determined opponent. Tech last hosted a WCHA home playoff series during the 1992-93 season.

WHERE TECH RANKS IN THE NATION
• Tanner Kero is tied for the lead in shorthanded goals (2), fourth in game-winning goals (6), fifth with a +21, and eighth in points (40)
• Jamie Phillips leads with most wins (23), has played the fifth most minutes between the pipes, and is fourth in winning percentage (78.3), and sixth in goals against average (1.76) and save percentage (93.4)
• Petan is second in points on the power play (18), third in game-winning goals (7), and 11th in points (38)
• Shane Hanna is third with a +25 rating
• Matt Roy ranks sixth in the nation with 69 blocked shots and 10th with a +19
• Cliff Watson is sixth with 69 blocked shots
• Tech has the most wins (24) and is second in winning percentage (76.6)
• Tech has the longest unbeaten and winning streak (8)
• Tech has scored the most goals (120) and is second in scoring offense (3.75)
• Tech is second in scoring defense (1.78)
• Tech leads in scoring margin (1.97)

COACH PEARSON
• Mel Pearson is in his fourth season as Michigan Tech's head hockey coach in 2014-15. His record with the Huskies is 67-65-16. He was named WCHA Coach of the Year in his inaugural campaign in 2011-12 and has guided the Huskies to their best three-season stretch in the last 20 years with 43 wins.
• Pearson's 67 wins rank him third all-time at Tech. John MacInnes (555-295-39) and Jamie Russell (70-197-37) are the top two. Pearson's last win moved him past Herb Boxer (66-129-8).
• Pearson's 43 wins in his first three years are the third most a Tech coach has had after the first three seasons. Jim Nahrgang had 56 wins during his three-year tenure. Bob Mancini had 45 wins during his first three seasons.

JOINING THE CENTURY CLUB
• Alex Petan became the 63rd player in Tech history to reach the 100-point mark for his career with a goal and two assists at Alaska Anchorage. His third-period goal on Feb. 14 put him in the Century Club.
• Co-captains Tanner Kero and Blake Pietila each had five points in Tech's series sweep of Alabama Huntsville and both players notched their 100th career point on Saturday to become the 61st and 62nd players in Tech history to join the Century Club. Kero's third period assist on Brent Baltus' goal gave him 100. Pietila's third period assist on Joel L'Esperance's goal gave him 100 points.
• David Johnstone is looking to join his teammates in the Century Club. He is five points shy with 95 points on 35 goals and 60 assists.
• 63 Huskies have reached the century all-time, including five who hit the 200-point mark. Mike Zuke is Tech's all-time leader with 310 career points.

SERIES INFORMATION
The Mavericks lead the all-time series 30-16-6 dating back to 1996. They are unbeaten in the last six meetings. Tech's last win over MSU was Feb. 4, 2012 in Mankato.

CURRENT POINT STREAKS
Four Game
• David Johnstone – 4 assists
Two Game
• Alex Petan – 1 goal, 3 assists
• Malcolm Gould – 3 goals
• Shane Hanna – 2 goals, 1 assist
• Dylan Steman – 1 goal, 2 assists
• Blake Pietila – 2 assists
• Walker Hyland – 2 assists

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• Minnesota State is 23-6-2 overall and 19-3-2 in the WCHA. The Mavericks three conference losses were at Bowling Green State (Nov. 1), vs. Alaska (Dec. 5), and at Alaska (Feb. 14). They are unbeaten in 14 of their last 16 games.
• The Mavericks were picked first in both the preseason media and coaches' polls. Matt Leitner (7-25=32) and Bryce Gervais (20-8=28) lead the offense. Stephon Williams is 19-4-2 between the pipes, has a 1.64 goals against average and a 92.6 save percentage. Leitner was the media's pick for WCHA Player of the Year
• Mike Hastings is in his third season as head coach of Minnesota State. He is 73-34-6 and was named the WCHA Coach of the Year in 2012-13. Last year his team won the most games in school history, won the Broadmoor Trophy as the WCHA Final Five champions and went to the program's third NCAA Tournament.

LAST MEETING
November 21, 2014 | No. 9 Minnesota State handed No. 1 Michigan Tech its first loss of the season. Alex Petan gave the Huskies a lead in the second period but a pair of goals 24 seconds apart in the third period put the Mavericks on top.
November 22, 2014 | Petan scored the game's first goal again, but the Mavericks scored three straight to take a 3-1 lead. Malcolm Gould made it a one-goal game with just over three minutes left but the Huskies couldn't get the equalizer.

24 GAME WINNERS
The Huskies have 24 wins for the first time since the 1980-81 season and are 24-7-1 overall and 19-4-1 in the WCHA. Tech finished 29-14-1 in 80-81. A Husky hockey team has won 20 games 17 times in the program's history.

LAST TIME OUT
• Michigan Tech extended the nation's longest winning streak to eight games with a WCHA series sweep of Alaska Anchorage. The Huskies won 5-1 Friday and 10-0 Saturday.
• Tech outscored the Seawolves 20-2 in the season series, winning all four games. The last time Tech swept UAA in Alaska was February 2004.
• Jamie Phillips earned his nation-leading 22nd and 23rd wins of the year in Tech's WCHA series sweep of UAA. The Winnipeg Jets draft pick stopped 57-of-58 shots on the weekend, making 22 saves Friday and 35 saves in his fourth shutout of the season Saturday. Phillips leads the WCHA in save percentage (93.4) and is second in goals against average (1.76).
• Dylan Steman had three points in Tech's WCHA series sweep of UAA. He had an assist on Friday and a goal and an assist on Saturday. Steman ranks fifth in the WCHA in freshman scoring (8-9=17) and fifth in WCHA conference-only scoring (6-7=13).
• Patrick Anderson scored his first career goal on Saturday. He has appeared in seven of the last nine games and has three points.
• Malcolm Gould is tied for second on the team with 14 goals. He had three goals at UAA and now has 28 points on the season.

HOBEY BAKER CANDIDATES
Senior forward Tanner Kero and junior goaltender Jamie Phillips are both Hobey Baker Candidates. The first phase of fan balloting runs from Jan. 7 through March 8. Phase two of fan balloting will begin on March 19 from the list of the Top Ten Hobey Baker finalists. The 2015 Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced from a field of three Hobey Hat Trick finalists on April 10 during the NCAA Frozen Four Championships in Boston.

LOOKING AHEAD
• The final series of the regular season is against Northern Michigan on March 6-7. Senior night will be March 6 at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena with the regular season finale on March 7 at the Berry Events Center.
• The first round of the WCHA playoffs is March 13-15 with the Final Five on March 20-21. Tech has clinched home ice for that weekend for the first time in 22 years.
• NCAA Regionals are March 27-29 and the Frozen Four is April 9 and April 11.

OTHER NOTES
• Tech is 11-1-1 in road games this season and 10-0-1 in WCHA road games
• Tech is 12-0-0 when leading after the first period and 18-2-0 when scoring first
• Tech is 13-0-1 when Tanner Kero scores
• Nine of Kero's team-leading 17 goals have been scored in the third period
• Eight of Alex Petan's 13 goals have been scored in the second period
• Tech is 12-0-0 when Blake Pietila has an assist and 16-1-0 when he records a point
• Tanner Kero (2-3=5), David Johnstone (1-5=6) and Alex Petan (4-0=4) lead the Huskies in points against Minnesota State
• The Huskies are 1-1-1 in overtime this season. They defeated Alaska on Jan. 23, tied with NMU on Jan. 9 and fell to the Wildcats on Jan. 10.
• Pietila has scored Tech's last two overtime game winners
• The Huskies are 12-5-0 at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena this season
• Tech is 16-1-0 when scoring four or more goals.
• Tech has five shorthanded goals this season: Sweeney (vs. Bemidji State) Kero (Ferris State at GLI and at Wisconsin), Eick (at Bemidji State) and Hietala (at Alabama Huntsville). Tech won all five games.
• After not having any empty net goals in 2013-14, the Huskies have seven this season.

NHL DRAFT PICKS
• Senior forward Blake Pietila was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the fifth round (129th overall selection) of the 2011 NHL Draft.
• Junior goaltender Jamie Phillips was drafted in the 2012 NHL Draft in the seventh round (190th overall) by the Winnipeg Jets.
• Sophomore defenseman Cliff Watson was selected in the sixth round of the 2012 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks (168th overall).
• Freshman defenseman Dane Birks was drafted in the sixth round (164th overall) by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2013 NHL Draft.

CAPTAINS
Senior forwards Blake Pietila and Tanner Kero were voted as captains by their teammates. Pietila was a captain last season while Kero was an assistant captain. This year's assistant captains are junior forward Alex Petan and sophomore defenseman Cliff Watson.

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