No. 6 men's hockey faces rival No. 10 Minnesota-Duluth

ST. CLOUD, MINN. - The end of the rugged National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) regular season schedule looms in the distance for the No. 6 St. Cloud State University men's hockey team. After a month in a pod and another two months of divisional travel, the Huskies are down to their final two weekends of play before the conference tournament March 12-16. St. Cloud State's final foe? None other than its conference rival, the No. 10 University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, a team it will face Saturday, February 27 at 7 p.m. in Duluth, Minnesota.

If you're slightly confused about the schedule, there's no need to fear. The Huskies and Bulldogs were originally supposed to play each other back-to-back nights in a home-and-home series set to open in St. Cloud, Minnesota on February 26. However, the games were split to two separate weekends to provide easier travel for both St. Cloud State and Minnesota-Duluth and falls in the best interests of student-athletes' health, safety and performance. This means the Huskies season finale will now occur on Saturday, March 6 when they host the Bulldogs at 1:07 p.m. at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota. There were no changes to Saturday's game in Duluth, Minnesota.

Despite recent struggles, Minnesota-Duluth will be a formidable opponent, though the team has hit a few speed bumps in recent games. The Bulldogs have struggled in their last three contests, falling to Western Michigan on the road before running into a hot goalie in their single game against Colorado College. Minnesota-Duluth lost to the Tigers 2-1 despite peppering Colorado College's goalie with 43 shots over the course of three periods. St. Cloud State has fared slightly better in its last three games, posting a 2-1 record with wins over Miami and the same Tigers team the Bulldogs lost to.

Saturday's game is set to begin at 7 p.m. in AMSOIL Arena and will air live on the CBS Sports Network. Fans can also listen to the game on The River 96.7 FM, KVSC 88.1 and follow along via live stats.

Here are the five things to know before this weekend's showdown with Minnesota-Duluth:

5 - This will be the fifth meeting between the Huskies and Bulldogs during the 2020-21 season, with St. Cloud State holding a 3-1 advantage. Minnesota-Duluth took the first game against the Huskies, earning a 4-3 overtime win back on January 2. Since then, St. Cloud State has won three consecutive games against the Bulldogs, two of which occurred in AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minnesota.

3 - Prior to the three wins over Minnesota-Duluth, however, the Huskies suffered three consecutive losses at the hands of the Bulldogs from March of 2020 to January of 2021. In the weird, wacky year that was 2020, St. Cloud State dropped its last two games of the season to Minnesota-Duluth by scores of 4-1 and 6-1. Both games took place in the Bulldogs home of AMSOIL Arena, away from the comforts of Halenbeck Hall.

1 - Someone cue the inspirational music (or "My Heart Will Go On" circa Twitter 2018). The last time these two teams met, then No. 6 St. Cloud State upended the No. 5 ranked team in the nation the wild ride that is 3v3 overtime. An awkwardly timed line changed by Minnesota-Duluth left Huskies defenseman Nick Perbix (Elk River, Minn. / Omaha) all alone at center ice. The junior casually skated toward the goal and, upon realizing there were only forwards left to defend him, blasted a shot past Zach Steksjal to win the game for St. Cloud State. David Hrenak (Povazksa Bystrica, Slovakia / Green Bay) earned both the shutout win and an assist on the game winning goal, breaking the program record for career shutouts in the process.

23 - Speaking of Hrenak, the senior netminder was named the NCHC Goaltender of the Week after a perfect performance against Colorado College on Saturday. The Los Angeles Kings draft pick stopped all 23 shots he faced, including 10 in the second period alone, to improve to 11-7-0 on the season and earn his second shutout "W" of the season. Hrenak now ranks second all-time in career wins at 60 and is within six of Brian Leitza's record of 66.

6/2 - Speaking of seniors, the class of 2020 has provided some serious offensive power as of late, scoring six goals and tallying three assists in the last three games for the Huskies. Three seniors in particular have wracked up the points against Miami and the Tigers: Easton Brodzinski (Blaine, Minn. / Green Bay), Kevin Fitzgerald (Hinsdale, Ill. / Aberdeen) and Will Hammer (St. Cloud, Minn. / Tech). Brodzinski accounted for three of the six goals scored by seniors in the past two weeks, overtaking freshman phenom Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland / Kiekko-Espoo U20) as the team leader in goals with his two-goal performance against Colorado College Saturday. Like Brodzinski, Fitzgerald scored three goals in the last two weeks, and Hammer has tallied two assists in the last two weekends.