Northern Michigan University’s Luke Voltin, front left, gets tripped up by Alaska-Anchorage’s Alex Frye, right, while skating the puck up the boards during their WCHA game played Saturday at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

MARQUETTE — For the second time in barely more than a month, the Northern Michigan University hockey team has a huge opportunity in front of them as it once again faces off against the No. 1 team in the country.

The last time it happened in mid-December, the now-No. 17 Wildcats (13-7-2, 11-5 WCHA) took on then-No. 1 Minnesota State-Mankato at home and handed the Mavericks only their second loss of the season in a series split.

This weekend, NMU has a potentially an even more difficult task ahead of it as it travels to Cornell (12-1-2, 8-1-1 ECAC), which is tied for the nation’s top spot with North Dakota in the USCHO poll.

Just like the now-No. 3 Mavericks, the Big Red are good in almost every major category. They’re sixth in team offense, second in team defense and seventh on the power play, making Cornell just an all-around good team as Grant Potulny is well aware.

The Wildcats’ head coach knows that first-hand after the Big Red came to Marquette last year and swept.

“Every statistical category they have, if you’re in the top 20 consistently in those, you’re usually a playoff team or an NCAA (Tournament) team,” Potulny said. “They’re in the top 10 in every category but one. In 15 games, they’ve only given up 22 goals. So No. 1, you’ve got to be able to score; they’re 12-0 when they score first.

“Their power play is seventh in the country. So you have to win the special teams battle. Not only do you have to score, but you have to defend because you’re not going to get to five or four (goals) on them.

“You’re going to have to win the game 2-1 or maybe 3-2. They’re very similar in a lot of ways to Mankato with how they work and how they defend. They generate offense a little differently, but still (they’re) a real dangerous team.”

When asked if his team might have last year’s series with the Big Red in the back of their minds heading into the weekend, Potulny said it was a possibility and that he and his staff are really focusing on making sure the Wildcats know who Cornell is.

“It was early in the year and we got majorly outplayed the first night,” he said. “I thought we played very well the second night and just came up a little bit short.

“What we’re trying to do now this week is show them who we’re playing. We don’t have to show them Bowling Green (State). We don’t have to show them Mankato. They know who they are.

“You really don’t have to show them St. Cloud (State) or Michigan State, either, because they’re on enough TVs, or they’re in proximity to them, whether it’s players they know on those teams or they played this team and we know that. There’s a little bit more of a familiarity with them.

“We’re very unfamiliar with (Cornell). We played them twice and it was early in the year, so we’re trying to get them to a point with video as much as we can that they have an idea how they play, who they are, what they do that’s going to cause you trouble, how we’re going to prepare for that. To get us in more of a regular mindset as we would with any other team where you have a little couple things in the back of your mind before the game starts.”

Cornell does has one weakness, though, and that’s the penalty kill. Despite being strong in just about every area of the ice, the Big Red are abysmal when shorthanded as they’re a surprising 58th in the nation. So if NMU can get its power play going, this could be a successful weekend for the Wildcats. However, that’s been a point of frustration for Potulny as the Wildcats have been inconsistent in that area for awhile.

“I’m disappointed in them,” he said. “Since the break, we’re 76 percent on the penalty kill and 17 percent on the power play. Those numbers are both probably skewed.

“Probably the penalty kill hasn’t been that bad because of the 5-on-3 and 4-on-3 opportunities we’ve had against (us). And the power play, 17 (percent) is not a great number. We probably haven’t even been that good because we’ve had 5-on-3s and 4-on-3s and some of those things. We have to improve those.

“You can’t keep taking eight penalties a night for sure, and then conversely, when you get a 5-on-3 or you get a power play in an important part of the game, you have to give them a dagger or you have to increase the lead and get an insurance goal, or you have to get yourself back in the game. Sometimes, momentum is just not enough and we have to be sharper on it.”

One thing that NMU does have going for it is that it’s hot. The ‘Cats are on a five-game winning streak, including a road sweep of now-No. 15 Bowling Green State and a home sweep of Alaska-Anchorage last weekend. Not only that, but star forward Vincent de Mey seems to have broken out of his scoring slump as he notched a hat trick Saturday against the Seawolves and was named WCHA Forward of the Week.

“It was great to see him do that,” Potulny said. “Goal scorers can be streaky like any of them are. I think Vinny was playing well and not scoring and then I thought he hit a little bit of a lull.

“He was getting some shots, but sometimes as an offensive guy, you equate shots with playing well. I thought he had taken a dip a little bit in his game. He had to find his way out of it and Ty (Readman) did, too.

“Ty and Vinny have kind of gone together all year. When they’re playing well, they seem to generate offense. When they’re not, like a lot of young offensive players, they probably don’t impact the game as much as you’d hope that a guy like maybe Garrett (Klee) could without generating offense.”

Starting goalie Nolan Kent has also shone for the Wildcats as he picked up WCHA Goaltender of the Week honors for the second straight week.

“Well deserved again,” Potulny said. “I thought he played very well Friday, and I thought Saturday we played poorly in front of him.

“He’s kind of on a roll and confidence is a funny thing. For any athlete, when you’re playing well, you want to keep going and get after it and keep playing. Hopefully, that continues to improve. His numbers are phenomenal and his winning percentage, the most important thing, has been phenomenal.

“He’s not only given himself confidence but he’s given our team confidence.”

Northern will hope that confidence will carry over on its trip to Ithaca, New York. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.