No. 8 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Battles with Omaha on the Road

Friday, February 18

Omaha, Neb.

7:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Nebraska Omaha

No. 8 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Battles with Omaha on the Road

2/17/2022 1:42:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Huskies will play Mavericks twice on the road looking to move up the NCHC standings

GAME NOTES

THE MATCHUP

No. 8 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey hits the road to face (RV) Omaha for a weekend series on Friday, Feb. 18 and Saturday, Feb. 19 at Baxter Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. CT on both days, with a live stream available on NCHC.tv. On the radio, Tuesday's contest will be available on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM) with Jim Erickson on the call. The Huskies enter the weekend ranked No. 8 in both the DCU/USCHO Poll the USA Today / USA Hockey Coaches Poll, while the Mavericks are receiving votes in the DCU/USCHO Poll.

SERIES HISTORY

The Huskies and Mavericks will take the ice for the 43^rd and 44^th times this weekend, with the Huskies holding a 27-13-2 advantage in the all-time series between the two programs. St. Cloud State has won seven of the last 10 games in the series, however, the two teams split two games earlier this season at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Senior forward Easton Brodzinski and sophomore forward Veeti Miettinen each scored twice as the Huskies won the opening game of the series, 5-1, on Nov. 12, followed by a 3-2 overtime win by the Mavericks on Nov. 13. Graduate forward Kevin Fitzgergald scored a shorthanded goal late in the third period to tie the score, but Omaha was able to find the back of the net in the extra frame to seal the victory.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST TIME OUT

In its last time out, St. Cloud State earn four out of a possible six points in a home series against No. 5 Western Michigan on Feb. 11-12. The two teams skated to a 5-5 tie on Friday night, with the Broncos earning the shootout win, before the Huskies earned a 4-1 victory on Saturday behind a pair of goals from sophomore forward Joe Molenaar, his first career multi-goal game. The win snapped a six-game winless streak for the Huskies, its longest of the season.

POWER PLAY FUELS THE HUSKIES

For the majority of the 2021-22 season, St. Cloud State has led the nation in power play percentage, a mark they lead by a wide margin. The Huskies current marks sits at 34.3 percent (37-of-108), with the next closest team sitting at 29.5 percent (Michigan Tech, 28-of-95). St. Cloud State also ranks second in power play goals with 37, trailing only this weekend's opponent, Omaha, who has scored 38. St. Cloud State will have the single-season school record in its sights in the second half of the season, as the current records stand at 31.1 percent (73-of-235) on the power play in 2001-02 and 52 power play goals in 1990-91. The Huskies can also set an NCHC record with their power play success if they stay above Western Michigan's 2020-21 mark of 30.3 percent (23-of-76).
Individually, 11 Huskies have scored on the power play this season, led by senior forward Kevin Fitzgerald and junior forward Zach Okabe's six power play goals, marks which ranks fifth in the NCHC and 13th in the nation. Junior forward Jami Krannila ranks 19th in the nation with five power play goals, while senior forward Easton Brodzinski and sophomore forward Veeti Miettinen have each scored four power play goals this season. St. Cloud State is 14-4-2 when scoring on the power play this season.

OLYMPIC HUSKIES RETURNING?

With the United States Olympic Team being eliminated from Olympic competition on Feb. 15, St. Cloud State will soon get back its head coach Brett Larson along with seniors Sam Hentges and Nick Perbix (no word on when yet). The U.S. team won its pool play with three victories, but came up short in a shootout loss to Slovakia in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Perbix played in all for four games for the US, while Hentges played in the final two, scoring the American's second goal off a pass from his Husky teammate Perbix. The goal gave the United State a 2-1 lead in the game, a lead it had until the final minute of the game when Slovakia scored an equalizer to send the game into overtime.

FITZY'S CAREER YEAR

Graduate forward Kevin Fitzgerald is making the most of his final collegiate season of hockey, as he currently leads the team in goals (13) points (29) and power play goals (six), while ranking second in assists (16). The alternate captain has also posted an impressive mark of +13 on the season.
Just 27 games into the season, Fitzgerald has recorded career-highs in points (29), goals (13), assists (16) and power play goals (six). Fitzgerald is four points away from becoming 38^th member of SCSU's 100-point club (36^th with D-I stats only).
Fitzgerald was named a nominee for both the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to the nation's top collegiate hockey player, and the Hockey Humanitarian Award, given annually to the top citizen in collegiate hockey.

HOBEY BAKER NOMINEES

St. Cloud State had three representatives - senior forward Easton Brodzinski, senior forward Kevin Fitzgerald and senior defenseman Nick Perbix - named nominees for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey's top player. A fan vote to determine the finalists will take place between now and March 6, with the top-10 finalist voting slated to begin March 17. The trio will look to become the sixth Husky to be named a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, joining Mark Hartigan (2002), Bobby Goepfert (2007), Ryan Lasch (2008), Drew LeBlanc (2013) and Nic Dowd (2014). LeBlanc is the only Husky to ever win the Hobey Baker Award, doing so in 2013.
Back for his fifth season, Brodzinski has led the charge for the Huskies offense once again in 2021-22. He ranks third on the team in goals (11) and has continued to etch his name all over the St. Cloud State record book. He recorded his first career hat trick against North Dakota (Dec. 4) and how ranks 20th all-time in program history with 119 points. The fifth-year senior also ranks fourth all-time in game-winning goals (12), sixth in power play goals (25) and sixth in career goals (66).
Fitzgerald is making the most of his final collegiate season, as he currently leads the Huskies in goals (13) and points (29), while ranking second in assists (16). Just 27 games into the season, Fitzgerald has recorded career-highs in points (29), goals (13), assists (16) and power play goals (six).
Perbix leads the Huskies in assists with 20 and is second in points with 23. Perbix matched single-game program records for assists (five) and points (six) in an 11-1 rout over Miami on Jan. 21. His 20 assists on the season are a career-high, while his 23 points match a career-best.

GREAT WITH A MAN-DOWN

The Huskies have been superb on the penalty kill this season, ranking second in the NCHC and 16th nationally at 84.3 percent (86-of-102). St. Cloud State leads the nation with 10 short-handed goals on this season, while senior forward Micah Miller is the only player in the nation to score four goals with a man-down. No one else has more than two.
Miller's four short-handed goals are the third-most in a single-season in Husky history, trailing only Mark Hartigan (six, 2001-02) and Brett Lievers (five, 1993-94).
The Huskies scored two short-handed goals against Miami on Jan. 21, including a second period goal from Kupka while down two men. Dating back to at least the 2001-02 season (first season of readily available game-by-game box scores), St. Cloud State has never scored a 5-on-3 shorthanded goal.
The Huskies 10 short-handed goals are the most in a season since 2009-10 when they have 10.
The single-season program records will be in sight on the penalty kill, as the current records stand at 87.3 percent (124-of-142) in 2007-08 and 14 short-handed goals in 1993-94.