Mankato split
Freddy's three thoughts
1. What the L?
Minnesota State split a CCHA series with Northern Michigan over the weekend, and there’s no shame in that against a good team like the Wildcats have this season. However, the Mavericks were at home, and the Mankato faithful rarely leave the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center disappointed. Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss was just the sixth by the Mavericks in their home rink since the start of the 2018-19 season — two name changes ago for the downtown arena! If Northern Michigan dictated play on Friday, Minnesota State turned the tables the next night. They tightened things up, especially on special teams, saw their veterans step up and bounced back on with a solid 4-1 victory. You can read my game recaps from The Rink Live: Friday’s game, Saturday’s game.
2. ’Tender mercies
Mavericks sophomore goaltender Keenan Rancier got his season save percentage up over .900 for the first time this season — it’s now at .904 — with an excellent performance in both games. Defenseman Jake Livingstone said the team let the goalie down on Friday, as Rancier made 32 saves, including stops on 2 of an inexplicable 3 short-handed breakaways. There wasn’t much he could do on the game-winner, a power-play goal from CCHA leading scorer AJ Vanderbeck. Vanderbeck came out of the penalty box, skated alone to the slot and called his shot (word is, he actually called his shot before the box door opened), demanding the puck, getting it and then firing it in with 1:40 to play. Rancier stopped 19 shots on Saturday and saw just two shots from Vanderbeck, who was not nearly as noticeable in the second game.
3. Different team
As Mike Hastings often reminds, each season is unique and each team has a chance to write its own story. This year’s version of the Mavericks is very different, especially with Rancier and Alex Tracy in goal and others trying to plug key positions while also facing the very high bar set by previous MSU teams, those that won five straight MacNaughton Cups and went to back-to-back Frozen Fours. This ain’t easy, folks. So, while Friday’s game might have surprised you, I’d be encouraged by the way the Mavericks bounced back on Saturday and the on-ice leadership shown by the veterans like Livingstone, Cade Borchardt, David Silye and Akito Hirose. They were challenged, Hastings said, and they answered the bell. I’d also be encouraged by how some of the young players are developing, like Rancier, Luc Wilson, Christian Fitzgerald and Mason Wheeler, to name a few. While the Pairwise Rankings and the early season talk around them might freak you out, it is only Thanksgiving. Enjoy the season!
Up next
Minnesota State (8-4-0, 5-1-0 in CCHA) will go to Michigan Tech next weekend to take on an always-tough Huskies team. Tech (8-3-2, 4-2-2) has won three straight, including a sweep at St. Thomas this past weekend, wins of 6-2 and 4-3.
Around the CCHA
In other conference play this weekend, Bowling Green and Ferris State split a series at Big Rapids, Mich., with the Falcons winning 6-0 Friday and the Bulldogs winning 4-1 on Saturday. Bowling Green sits atop the conference standings with 17 points but has played 10 games. Minnesota State, with six games played, has 15 points, followed by Tech (eight games) with 14 and Northern Michigan (eight games) with 13.