(RV) St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Opens NCHC Play by Hosting Miami

THE MATCHUP

After its first bye week of the season, St. Cloud State Men's Hockey moves to conference play when it hosts Miami (Ohio) on Friday and Saturday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The series begins on Friday with a 7:30 p.m. CT puck drop at the Brooks Center, followed by a Saturday series finale beginning at 6:00 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on Fox 9 + and NCHC.tv with Jim Rich, Geno Parrish and Anna Behning on the call, while on the radio, Husky Hockey veteran Jim Erickson and former Husky captain Dave Reichel will have the call over the airwaves on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM). Saturday's contest will be shown on a tape delay on Fox 9 + following a previously commitment from the station. St. Cloud State enters the weekend receiving votes in the USCHO Top-20 Poll, while the RedHawks are currently receiving votes in both the USCHO and USA Today / The Rink Live Top-20 polls

SERIES HISTORY

After a 1-8-2 start to the series, the Huskies are 29-9-4 in the last 40 matchups with the RedHawks since Dec. 30, 2010. Overall, St. Cloud State leads the all-time series, 30-17-6, which dates back to the 1987-88 season. The Huskies are 6-2-2 in the last 10 meetings against the two programs, with the last matchup coming Feb. 3-4, 2023 at the Brooks Center where the teams recorded back-to-back ties. Friday's 3-3 tie was a memorable one, as the two squads went 10 shootout rounds before finding the back of the net, as Micah Miller's goal gave the Huskies the extra point in the conference standings. In St. Cloud, SCSU is 19-5-3 all-time against the RedHawks.

A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST SERIES

The Huskies earned a split against (RV) Alaska in its last time out, winning 4-1 on Friday before falling 5-2 on Saturday to the Nanooks. In Friday's win, the Huskies jumped out fast, scoring three first period goals to lift the team to victory as four different Huskies found the back of the net, including junior forward Nick Portz's first Husky goal as the game-winner. Senior forward Veeti Miettinen led the offensive charge in the series, scoring four points over the weekend with two goals and two assists.

OKABE NEARS 100

Fifth-year senior forward Zach Okabe has returned for one more campaign in the red and black, and is only three points away from joining an exclusive club in St. Cloud State Men's Hockey history. Okabe currently has 97 points (43 goals / 54 assists) and is three points away from becoming the 38th member of SCSU's 100-point club. Okabe had a career-year in 2022-23, as he set career-bests in goals (18), assists (18), points (36), game-winning goals (fie) and plus/minus (+16) while leading the Huskies to an NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. Okabe's overtime winner against North Dakota provided one of the most memorable moments of last season for the Huskies. Okabe is one of 13 Huskies to record multiple hat tricks in their SCSU career, the only one to record two natural hat tricks, and currently ranks 13th in career game-winning goals with nine. The Husky senior is also closing in on the top-20 list for most career goals, as his 43 goals is just nine away from a four-way tie in 17th place at 52 goals from Joe Motzko (1999-03), Nic Dowd (2010-14), Robby Jackson (2015-19) and Jami Krannila (2019-23).

GAME NOTES FROM LAST SERIES:

GAME 1 - 4-1 win vs. Alaska (10-20-23 in St. Cloud)

St. Cloud State recorded its second-highest shots-on-goal mark this season with 34 and outshot Alaska 34-13, its best margin of the season by a wide margin (previously +7).
The Huskies went 1-of-5 on the power play and was a perfect 5-of-5 on the penalty kill.
Senior forward Veeti Miettinen scored his second goal of the season and recorded his third assist, moving his season point total to a team-leading five points.
Miettinen's multi-point game was the second of his season and the 22nd of his career.
Sophomore forward Adam Ingram scored his second goal of the season and his third season to move into a tie with Miettinen for the team-lead with five points. It marked his first multi-point game of the season and sixth of his career.
Fifth-year forward Kyler Kupka recorded two assists in the game, marking the first time this season and sixth time in his career he has recorded two or more assists.
Junior forward Nick Portz scored his first career SCSU goal and first career game-winning goal while tallying his fifth career goal overall.
Senior forward Joe Molenaar scored his second goal of the season and 10th of his career.

GAME 2 - 5-2 loss vs. Alaska (10-21-23 in St. Cloud)

With the loss, St. Cloud State dropped to 12-7-0 all-time against Alaska, losing to the Nanooks for the first time since Oct. 29, 1988, a 4-2 result in Fairbanks.
The Huskies went 1-of-8 on the power play with 16 shots-on-goal with the man advantage.
Senior forward Veeti Miettinen scored his third goal of the season and recorded his fourth assist, increasing his season point total to a team-leading seven points.
Miettinen's multi-point game was the second consecutive, third of his season and the 23rd of his career.
Fifth-year forward Kyler Kupka's power play goal extended his point streak to three games.
Fifth-year forward Dylan Anhorn recorded the primary assist on Miettinen's goal, his fourth assist of the season, which is tied with Miettinen for the team lead.
Freshman defenseman Warren Clark recorded his first collegiate point with the secondary assist on Miettinen's goal.
Junior forward Mason Salquist won 66.7 percent of faceoffs (14-7), improving his season total to 61.5 percent (72-45).

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