No. 6 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey Ready for Road Series at North Dakota

*NO. 6 ST. CLOUD STATE at (RV) NORTH DAKOTA*
*OPPONENT*	*LOCATION*	*DAY*	*TIME (CT)*	*TV / STREAM*	*RADIO*	*STATS*	*GAME NOTES*
North Dakota	Grand Forks, N.D.	Friday, Feb. 17	7:00 p.m.	CBS Sports Network	KNSI	Stats	SCSU Notes
North Dakota	Grand Forks, N.D.	Saturday, Feb. 18	6:00 p.m.	Midco Sports / NCHC.tv	KNSI	Stats	UND Notes

THE MATCHUP

After its last bye week of the season, No. 6 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey returns to action with its first of two consecutive road trips this weekend, as the Huskies travel to Grand Forks, N.D., to face (RV) North Dakota on Feb. 17-18 at Ralph Englestad Arena. The series will begin with a 7:00 p.m. CT start on Friday and end with a 6:00 p.m. CT game on Saturday.
The series opener will be televised on CBS Sports Network with Alex Heinert, Dave Starman and Shireen Starman on the call, while Saturday's game will be televised on Midco Sports and streamed on NCHC.tv with Alex Heinert and Jake Brandt on the call. On the radio, Husky Hockey veteran Jim Erickson and former Husky captain Dave Reichel will have the call on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM).
The Huskies currently check in at the No. 5 position in both the DCU / USCHO Poll and USA Hockey / USA Today Coaches Polls, while North Dakota is receiving votes in both polls.

SERIES HISTORY

This weekend's series will be the 144^th and 145^th meetings between the Huskies and Fighting Hawks, with all but one series happening since the 1989-90 season. The Fighting Hawks lead the overall series 79-48-16, and are 40-19-8 against the Huskies all-time in Grand Forks.
Earlier this season, the Huskies swept UND in a series at the Brooks Center (Dec. 2-3), scoring six unanswered goals in both games of the series. It was St. Cloud State's first sweep against North Dakota since Nov. 1-2, 2013 (3-2 & 3-1 in Grand Forks) and its first at home since Nov. 2-3, 2001 (8-4 & 6-1). The Huskies 13 goals were also the most it has scored in a series against UND since that same 2001 series.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST SERIES

Last time out, St. Cloud State and Miami tied both games of a series played Feb. 3-4 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Despite the back-to-back ties, the Huskies won the shootout on both nights to take four out of six conference points on the weekend. The back-to-back ties were SCSU's first in a series since Oct. 11-12, 2019, when the Huskies and Bemidji State tied 4-4 and 2-2 in Bemidji. SCSU and Minnesota Duluth tied both games of a rescheduled home series last season, tying 2-2 and 1-1 on Feb. 8 and 22, 2022. Senior forward Jami Krannila scored his 100^th career point in the final game of the series, becoming the 37th member of SCSU's 100-point club (39th with D-I and D-II stats).

COACH LARSON NEARS CENTURY MARK

Head Coach Brett Larson enters the weekend series one win away from career win No. 100, as he currently sits at 99-55-15. Just 169 games into his tenure with the Huskies, Larson is tracking to be the fastest to 100 wins in program history. In Division-I history, Bob Motzko (276-192-49, 2005-18) reached win 100 in his 191st game, while Craig Dahl (338-309-52, 1987-2005) reached the milestone in game 241. Only one Husky coach reached 100 wins prior to becoming a D-I program, as Charlie Basch (181-193-7, 1968-84) reached his 100th win in his 215th game.
Larson has continued to elevate the SCSU program while at the helm, as he has guided the Huskies to three NCAA Tournament appearances, a NCAA Frozen Four appearance in 2021 and an NCHC Penrose championship in 2019. He is the only SCSU coach to lead the program to NCAA Tournaments in the first three seasons a tournament has been played (no tournament in 2020 due to pandemic).

KRANNILA'S STORY BOOK SENIOR SEASON

Senior forward Jami Krannila has made the most of his senior campaign, leading the Huskies offense in points while being named a Hobey Baker nominee, the NCHC January Player of the Month and reaching the 100-point club.
Just 28 games into the season, Krannila has already produced career-best marks of 16 goals, 17 assists and 33 points with an outstanding +20 mark on the ice. Among national leaders, Krannila ranks 10th in plus/minus (+20), 15th in points (33) and 15th in goals (16). In the NCHC, Krannila ranks fourth in points (33) and fifth in goals (16) while leading the league in goals (14) and points (25) in conference only games.
Krannila's 30-point season is the 129th time a Husky has record 30+ points in the D-I era (since 1987-88).
The Hobey Baker nominee was named the NCHC Player of the Month for the month a January. Krannila produced eight points (five goals / three assists) with a +4 mark on the ice and a .528 mark in the faceoff dot while helping the Huskies recorded three victories over top-three ranked opponents.
In the month of January, the Husky senior led the NCHC in goals (five), while ranking third in points (eight) and fourth in power play goals (two). Krannila played a crucial role in the Huskies sweep of then-No. 3 Denver on Jan. 20-21, as he produced four points (two goals / two assists), a +4 mark and was .611 in the faceoff dot while winning NCHC Forward of the Week honors. He also scored a pair of goals against Minnesota Duluth on Jan. 28, marking the fifth time this season and ninth time in his career he has scored two goals in a game.
Krannila scored his 16th goal of the season against Miami (Feb. 4) to record his 100th career point, becoming the 37th member of SCSU's 100-point club (39th with D-I & D-II stats). He is the first Husky to join the 100-point club since Kevin Fitzgerald reached the century mark against Colorado College on Feb. 26, 2022.

CRUIKSHANK'S OFFENSIVE EMERGENCE

St. Cloud State senior forward Grant Cruikshank has been an offensive juggernaut through the first 28 games of the season, as he leads the team in goals (17), while ranking second in points (27) and sixth in assists (10). Among national leaders, the fifth-year senior transfer ranks third in goals (17) and 26^th in points (27).
Cruikshank has scored a point in 14 of the last 19 games dating back to Nov. 4 at Denver and 19 of 268games overall this season. He is one of 58 Huskies to record 17 or more goals in the D-I era (since 1987-88).
He earned NCHC Forward of the Week honors after leading SCSU to a sweep of No. 2 Minnesota State by recording five points (three goals / two assists).
Cruikshank's hot start to the season - 10 goals in 12 games - was the best start by a Husky since Ryan Lasch scored 10 goals in the first 11 games of the 2007-08 season.
Cruikshank played a big part in the Huskies 4-3 OT win over Denver on Nov. 4, as he scored a third period goal to make the score 2-2, then assisted on junior forward Veeti Miettinen's game-winning goal in overtime.
The fifth-year senior scored six goals in five consecutive games between Oct. 2 and Oct. 22, a scoring stretch not seen by an SCSU skater since Judd Peterson did so from Oct. 15-29, 2016. He was the first Husky to score six goals in the first six games of a season since Matt Hendricks and Nate DiCasmirro both did so to open the 2001-02 season. Since 2001-02, Cruikshank is one of 10 Huskies to record a 5-game or more goal streak, and the first since Miettinen (2020-21).

TOUGH TO SCORE ON

Through 28 games, St. Cloud State has made its mark as one of the toughest defensive teams in the country, ranking among the nation's top-15 in numerous defensive categories. Nationally, the Huskies rank second in shorthanded goals (seven), sixth in scoring defense (2.18) and seventh in scoring margin (1.21) and save percentage (.915).
A big piece to the puzzle defensively for the Huskies has been the play between the pipes, as senior goalie Jaxon Castor and junior goalie Dominic Basse have played outstanding. Both have goals-against average and save percentages that rank in the top-20 nationally.
In 15 games where St. Cloud State has allowed two or fewer games, the Huskies are 13-1-1, with its only loss coming on the road to then-No. 3/1 Minnesota in overtime (2-1, Jan. 8).
St. Cloud State opponents have failed to score on the power play in 14 of 28 games this season, and the Huskies are 12-1-1 in those contests.

POWER PLAY THREAT

With a man advantage, the Huskies have converted on 23.9 percent (27-of-113) of its chances, which ranks fifth in the NCHC and 11th nationally, while its 27 power play goals ranks 10th nationally.
After an 0-for-15 stretch over five games between Dec. 10 and Jan. 14, the Huskies have scored on the power play in five of its last six games.
Individually, five Huskies have combined for 23 of its 27 power play goals on the season. Senior forwards Grant Cruikshank, Jami Krannila and Zach Okabe lead the team with five power play tally's, while senior forward Kyler Kupka and junior forward Veeti Miettinen have all scored four power play goals. Senior defenseman Dylan Anhorn has 11 power play assists and one power play goal to lead the team with 12 power play points.
Last season, the Huskies led the nation in power play percentage, a mark they lead by a wide margin. The Huskies PP unit finished at 31.3 percent (45-of-144), with the next closest team sitting at 27.4 percent (Minnesota State, 45-of-164). The team set a program record with its mark, besting its previous mark of 31.1 percent (73-of-235) in 2001-02, and set an NCHC record, besting Western Michigan's 2020-21 mark of 30.3 percent (23-of-76).
Since the start of 2021-22, St. Cloud State is 28-11-3 when scoring on the power play, including a 12-4-1 mark this season.