No. 11 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey and No. 8/9 Minnesota Duluth Faceoff Tuesday at Brooks Center

Tuesday, February 22

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Minnesota Duluth

2/21/2022 11:25:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Huskies and Bulldogs hit the ice at 6:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday at the HBNHC

GAME NOTES
THE MATCHUP

No. 11 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey returns home to face No. 8/9 Minnesota Duluth on Tuesday, Feb. 22, for the second of two mid-week tilts between the two in-state rivals. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:07 p.m. CT with a broadcast available on Charter, UTVS and NCHC.tv with Jim Rich, Pat Micheletti and Rachel Herzog on the call. On the radio, Tuesday's contest will be available on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM) with Jim Erickson and Dave Reichel 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

St. Cloud State leads the current series between the two schools, 78-53-10, including a 41-19-6 mark against the Bulldogs at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. All but eight of the teams' 131 matchups have come since January 1989 when both schools became D-I programs, with those eight contests coming between the 1946-47 and 1952-53 seasons. The two teams played to a 2-2 tie in the first matchup of the season on Feb. 8, with the Huskies earning a shootout win for an extra point in the NCHC standings. Both of St. Cloud State's goals came in the final two minutes of the third period, as graduate defenseman Seamus Donohue and senior defenseman Spencer Meier each found the back of the net to force overtime and give St. Cloud State a chance at earning the extra point.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST TIME OUT

In its last time out, St. Cloud State was swept on the road by Omaha on the road on Feb. 18-19. The Huskies were outscored 10-3 in the series, losing 5-2 in Friday and 5-1 on Saturday. St. Cloud State received goals from senior forward Kevin Fitzgerald, junior defenseman Ondrej Trejbal and senior forward Sam Hentges.

THE RACE FOR HOME ICE

St. Cloud State is on the outside looking in when it comes to home ice in the quarterfinals of the NCHC Tournament. The Huskies currently sit in fifth place with 25 points, tied with Omaha, and four points behind Tuesday's opponent, Minnesota Duluth, who has 29 points. The Huskies and Bulldogs will each control their own destiny on who gets home ice in the opening round, as the two teams will face each other three times in their final five games of the regular season, ending the season March 4-5 in Duluth. After playing each other seven times in 2020-21, these teams seemed destined to matchup once again in the NCHC quarterfinals, which would be the fifth, six and possibly seventh matchups between the two teams this 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 33.6 percent (38-of-113), with the next closest team sitting at 28.6 percent (Michigan Tech, 30-of-105). St. Cloud State also ranks third in power play goals with 38, trailing only NCHC foes Denver (41) and Omaha (40). 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 with seven, which ranks 10th in the nation. Junior forward Zach Okabe's six power play goals rank 15th in the nation, while junior forward Jami Krannila ranks 23rd in the nation with five power play goals. St. Cloud State is 14-5-2 when scoring on the power play this season.

OLYMPIC HUSKIES RETURN

St. Cloud State's trio of Olympians, head coach Brett Larson, senior Sam Hentges and senior Nick Perbix returned this past weekend against Omaha, with Larson manning the bench on Friday and Hentges and Perbix back in the lineup on Saturday. At the Olympics, the U.S. team won its pool play with three victories, but came up short in a shootout loss to Slovakia in the quarterfinals. Perbix played in all for four games for the US, while Hentges played in the final two, scoring in the quarterfinals off a pass from his Husky teammate Perbix. The goal gave the United States a 2-1 lead in the game before Slovakia scored late in regulation to force 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 (14), points (30) and power play goals (seven), while ranking second in assists (16). The alternate captain has also posted an impressive mark of +10 on the season.
Fitzgerald has already recorded career-highs in points (30), goals (14), assists (16) and power play goals (seven) and is three 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.

GREAT WITH A MAN-DOWN

The Huskies have been superb on the penalty kill this season, ranking second in the NCHC and 21st nationally at 83.0 percent (88-of-106). 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. Only one other player, Lake Superior State's Louis Boudon, has three.
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 had 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.