Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.UNO is coming off a win over top-ranked Minnesota-Duluth, has a series at last-place Minnesota State-Mankato this weekend and has next weekend off, but no, this is no time to take a breather.
"Any team in the WCHA can beat anyone," UNO forward Matt White said. "We're not overlooking anyone. We definitely learned our lesson from (Alabama-)Huntsville. We've heard a lot about Mankato, and they showed against Wisconsin that they're a great team.
"We've just got to play our style and hopefully we'll come out of the weekend with four points."
UNO (11-9-4 overall and tied for fourth in the WCHA at 8-5-3) might need the four points from two wins just to hold serve in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and to keep its NCAA tournament hopes alive.
Games at the Verizon Wireless Center are at 7:37 Friday night and 7:07 p.m. Saturday.
The Mavs have been backed into a corner because of some hard-to-fathom nonconference losses, such as their Dec. 2 loss against previously winless Alabama-Huntsville.
And Minnesota State, despite records of 7-16-1 overall and 3-12-1 in the WCHA, is no Alabama-Huntsville. The other Mavericks are coming off a victory over Wisconsin and, for what it's worth, swept Alabama-Huntsville by a combined 13-3 just one week after UNO settled for a split.
"They may not be in the best place, standings-wise, but they are a good, hard-working team," UNO forward Brent Gwidt said. "We're playing for the Maverick Cup (both teams' nickname is Mavericks, and there is a traveling trophy), so there's a little bit of a rivalry there, and they're definitely going to have something to play for all weekend."
UNO has finally gotten a handle on this series, going 5-1-2 over the past four seasons, but MSU leads overall 13-10-5. UNO swept the series in Omaha last year, winning 5-1 and 5-2.
"We've always had competitive games with them, and I think our players learned a lot from Huntsville, that if we're not mentally prepared to play, we're not a very good hockey team," UNO coach Dean Blais said. "We don't have enough older, experienced guys to be able to carry the mail when we're not on. We have to have a total team commitment."
Blais said he was pleased with last week's top forward line of Brock Montpetit centering White and Terry Broadhurst. That group, though on the ice for the first two of Minnesota-Duluth's four-goal third period, had combined for both second-period goals as UNO tied the game. And Montpetit put UNO ahead in Saturday's win with a first-period power play score.
However, Blais said he'd likely change combinations because UNO is on the road, which allows Minnesota State — because the home team gets the last change — the opportunity to match up during faceoffs.
"The Montpetit-White-Broadhurst line was really good through the weekend," Blais said. "But against Mankato, I don't want their three best defensive (forwards) and their top one or two defensemen to offset them, so that's why we're going to break that line up.
"We'll see how that goes. I think guys realize what we're trying to do with it, too. When you make changes like that, you've got to let them know why. I think they're expecting it and understand why we're doing it."
Expect Montpetit and Broadhurst to skate with freshman Josh Archibald on the top line, with White joining a second line centered by freshman Jayson Megna and including Ryan Walters.
"We should have two lines that are capable of scoring, and (Andrew) Schmit got the game winner Saturday and (he'll be) with Gwidt and (Johnnie) Searfoss," Blais said. "Our fourth line depends on health."
Searfoss sat out last Saturday because of illness, one of several Mavs who were under the weather last week. And then the Mavs shortened their bench each night because of game-misconduct penalties — they used only three lines in the third period Saturday.
"We still have some guys sick and injured, but as we move along, hopefully we'll get over everything," Blais said. "We had guys moving in and out of practice last week. We didn't want to make a big deal of it, because we still have enough guys to have a competitive team, but certainly we weren't 100 percent."
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402-444-1027, rob.white@owh.com
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