Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.It's a crossroads weekend in the UNO hockey season.
The Mavericks, 12-10-4 overall, are sixth in the WCHA standings with 21 points (9-6-3), but they've played two fewer games than fifth-place North Dakota and are only two points out of third.
Into the CenturyLink Center for games at 7:37 p.m. Friday and 7:07 p.m. Saturday comes 10th-place Bemidji State (12-12-2 overall, 6-10-2 WCHA), the team that bedeviled the Mavs last season and managed to steal a point from them when the teams played a series in Bemidji, Minn., in November.
Take care of business this weekend, then scratch out some road points next weekend at Michigan Tech, and the Mavs have a chance to make hay down the stretch. Struggle and the future becomes murkier.
"We've put ourselves in pretty good position in the middle of the pack in the league," UNO coach Dean Blais said. "Now you can move either forward or backward. And it's not an easy schedule — the last three opponents (Denver, Colorado College and Minnesota) are all ahead of us in the standings, and Bemidji State and Michigan Tech both play very hard."
After an open week following a disappointing road split at Minnesota State-Mankato, when they lost in overtime in the second game, the Mavs are primed to make their return.
"It kind of stinks because you don't get to redeem yourself, but at the same time, it comes at a good time because, as a team, we needed some time off and needed to get healthy," defenseman Bryce Aneloski said. "We've been playing a lot with three (forward) lines and four D (defensemen), so the rest will only help.
"Definitely from a team outlook, it's good. But at the same time, you can't wait to get back and hopefully redeem your last result."
Status report with 10 games left in the regular season? Mixed.
"You're not comfortable with anything right now," Blais said. "Some guys (like leading goal scorer Terry Broadhurst, on an 11-game drought) are a little snakebit with their scoring. We're having problems giving up 40 shots on goal for four games in a row. You'd like to see your power play (fourth in league games at 22.2 percent) and penalty kill (fifth, 81.7 percent) better.
"There's nothing coaches are really satisfied with at this time of year — it's how much better can you get from now out."
It's likely just a matter of time before Broadhurst re-emerges. The power play and penalty kill have been at least respectable.
And some of the shots-on-goal differential can be traced to the Mavs having had to kill off five-minute majors in three of the past four games. Blais said Minnesota State had 10 shots on goal during one of those power plays.
If Bemidji State puts 40 shots on goal, there's a problem. The Beavers are last in the WCHA in league games at 24.2 shots on goal per game and are outshot by 5.7 per game.
Still, the Beavers are opportunistic and wait to capitalize on mistakes.
That's where the Mavs' goaltending situation comes into play.
Ryan Massa, who appeared to secure the No. 1 job but then suffered a concussion in the series opener at Minnesota State, has been cleared to play, but a decision on whether to start him likely won't come until Friday afternoon.
John Faulkner, Dayn Belfour and even Fredrik Bergman (who hasn't played) are in the mix.
"Our goaltending has been OK, but OK goaltending is not going to be good enough in this league," Blais said. "Ryan has given us a chance to win every game (UNO is 5-1-1 in his last seven starts, with the loss 1-0 at North Dakota). We've talked about who is going to be the goaltender to step up and take that spot. . If Ryan isn't ready, it's an opportunity for Dayn or Johnny or Bergman."
This weekend, it's an opportunity for everyone in a Mavs jersey, including the fourth forward line.
James Polk, Dominic Zombo, Zahn Raubenheimer, Joe Krause and Alex Simonson are looking to make an impact and secure the three forward positions. Three will play and two will sit.
"Guys might not be great scorers, but they can work hard defensively and that's what we're looking for right now," Blais said. "We need time. We need those five or six shifts per period that a fourth line can give us. Not that we have to score, just give us some offensive-zone cycling time and play good and solid in the defensive zone."
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402-444-1027, rob.white@owh.com
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