Northern Michigan University’s Jakub Altrichter, left, sprints up the ice in a game against Michigan Tech last season at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — It’s rivalry week for the Northern Michigan University hockey team.

And that’s certainly good news, since one of the tenets in any heated rivalry is that you can throw out the records.

Does that include the Wildcats’ 0-10 mark, especially when compared to top Upper Peninsula rival Michigan Tech’s 5-3?

NMU head coach Dave Shyiak certainly hopes so, as his team has played nothing but current or previously nationally ranked teams so far — No. 15 UMass, No. 16 Ohio State, No. 19 Colorado College, No. 1 Michigan State and one-week-out-of-the-rankings Augustana last weekend.

Last week was a classic example of the season so far — on one night, Augustana jumped out to a two-goal lead before the Wildcats cut it to one in the latter stages, then on the other night, NMU built a lead that lasted for almost a full period before the Vikings roared back to take that victory, too.

The Wildcats have had spectacular goaltending when they’ve given up more than 40 or 50 — or even up to 70 — shots on goal, then more normal looking in the nets when the shots have been more even, or even in Northern’s favor.

However it’s gone, this week’s games will be played in Houghton at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena at 7:07 p.m. Friday and in Marquette at the Berry Events Center at 6:07 p.m. Saturday.

Both games will be telecast on Fox-U.P., with MidcoSportsPlus as a streaming option and Marquette radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point carrying both games, too.

Fans can also visit the NMU athletics website and look under the hockey schedule for links to ticket information for Saturday night, live video, live audio, live statistics and a preview.

Augustana got the sweep of Northern at its home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

“They’re a really good opponent,” Shyiak said in an NMU Sports Information news release about this weekend. “I had them picked in the top two (in the CCHA preseason coaches poll).

“They do everything right — they don’t cheat the game, they protect the middle of the ice, and you have to earn your offense against them.”

He was pleased with keeping the Vikings scoreless early on Friday night.

“Any time you can (hold a team scoreless after the first period) on the road against a good opponent, it levels the playing field,” Shyiak said. “And then to only be down 1-0 going into the third period, you’ll take that.”

Freshman forward Tobias Pitka got Northern’s Friday goal with Wisconsin transfer William Gramme making 46 saves.

“I thought they carried the play a little in the second period,” the NMU coach said. “I thought we struggled with our puck (management), our (defensemen) struggled to advance pucks to the next zone, and then in the third period we had chances to score, and we need to capitalize.

“I thought the special teams won them the game…. On power plays, if you aren’t scoring, you have to be able to generate shots. You get energy from that, and we were unable to do so.”

The Wildcats rebounded on Saturday with what Shyiak termed “one of our best games of the year,” holding Augustana scoreless in the first 20 minutes of play for the second consecutive night, producing the second-most single-period shots in the program dating back to 2004, and taking a 1-0 lead into the third period.

Pitka collected his second goal of the weekend, while NMU netminder Oliver Auyeung-Ashton made 22 saves through 40 minutes.

The ‘Cats put up 42 shots for the game, the most the team has produced under Shyiak, and the most Augustana has allowed at Midco Arena since its inaugural season.

“We did a lot of good things (on Saturday), and I thought we were the better team for 2 1/2 periods. I loved how our guys responded…. After losing how we did on Friday, it’s always a mental challenge to come back and be better.

“You can either fold or rise up and play better, and I was proud of our guys. We rose up and played better, and I thought we carried the play.

“They have some good players, and they scored two net-front goals…. They created some chaos in front, and give kudos to them, they did a better job at that.

“Obviously, (I’m) not happy and disappointed we didn’t come away with some points, but a positive is how we responded on Saturday, and that we were the better team for 2 1/2 periods. The message to the group is that we liked a lot of our game, but we still have to do more to find ways to win.”

NMU’s power play has struggled throughout the first 10 games despite getting the fourth-most opportunities in the league. They only convert at a 8.6% rate, 3 of 35, to tie for fewest man-advantage goals.

And Northern is the third-most penalized team in the CCHA, also tied for third in power play goals allowed, killing 28 of 35 chances (80%).

Looking to this weekend, the Huskies are No. 2 in the CCHA on the power play and No. 3 in penalty kill, so that will be a priority.

“With our young group, we’re still tooling with combinations and finding out what works and what doesn’t work,” Shyiak said about special teams. “Learning who’s a threat to score, who’s the better passer, and we’re still working our way through that.

“We have the right people on the ice, we just have to cash in…. Special teams, goaltending, having the puck, faceoffs, all of that is going to matter (this weekend).”

MTU is coming off a trip out east against two opponents last weekend, losing at Clarkson 6-4 and beating St. Lawrence 3-0.

The goalies have given the Wildcats a chance in these early stages of the season, and also presented their head coach a choice just about every time out.

Asked if he plans to solidify a clear starter or opt for the more trendy “1A/1B” rotation, Shyiak says that while the team wants to get “continuity,” he believes both give the Wildcats a chance to win.

“They’ve each had five starts, they’ve both been playing really well for us, and I think that’s great (internal) competition,” the coach said. “They’ve been playing so good and giving us a chance to win every game, and so we might go to a rotation. We’re still sorting through that.” 

After a home sweep of Ferris State to open conference play two weeks ago, MTU under new head coach Bill Muckalt plays a little differently than under Joe Shawhan, according to Shyiak.

“They have two of the best forwards in the CCHA back in (Isaac) Gordon and (Stiven) Sardarian, so that makes a difference,” Shyiak said, noting that Gordon decommitted from leaving Houghton for Minnesota-Duluth in the off-season, while Sardarian came back to Tech after intially announcing his intent to go pro.

“They have some guys back that are key pieces for them up front, their defensive core is a little bit different, and (Muckault) brought over a good goaltender from Lindenwood,” the NMU coach said. “We’ll tweak a couple things, but for us, we have to build our identity to be closer to the Saturday game against Augustana.”

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release previewing the games. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.