MARQUETTE – Heading into last weekend’s series at Minnesota State, the Northern Michigan University hockey team was hoping to build on its big win over Michigan State at the Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit.

They did just that as they defeated the now No. 19 Mavericks 3-1 and ended a nine-game unbeaten streak by the leaders of the WCHA.

Now after a full month on the road, the Wildcats are returning home for a two-game series starting tonight against Alaska-Fairbanks.

The Nanooks (6-12-4, 4-10-4 WCHA) are tied for ninth place with rival Alaska-Anchorage in the league but are more than capable of climbing the standings during the season’s second half.

Northern (8-8-6, 6-6-4 WCHA) split with UAF back in November in Alaska.

“We had a real tough series against them,” NMU head coach Walt Kyle said. “I think Friday night, their power play killed us, but on Saturday, our power play was very effective against them.

“We’ll have to prepare ourselves. They have a lot of energy, they’ve got good speed and (Tyler) Morley is one of the most dangerous players in the country. We’re going to have to do our job on special teams.”

UAF is led by Morley (21 points, 11 goals), but it also has five other players with more than 10 points. Forward Peter Krieger has been an assist machine, notching 13.

Goaltending however, hasn’t been so great for UAF. Davis Jones and Jesse Jenks have split time in net and neither has stellar numbers. The Nanooks also struggle with their penalty killing and gave up four goals in one game the last time they faced the Wildcats.

If Northern can get its offense going, it could be a big weekend.

“That was probably the last night that our power play’s been efficient,” Kyle said. “We haven’t been very good since then.

“The biggest thing is that our power play has got to find a way to have some success. We’re not a team that scores a ton as most of the teams in our league aren’t.

“We have people who have proven it in the past. Brock (Maschmeyer) had seven goals at this point and now he has one. We’ve got to find a way to get him scoring. Gerard (Hanson) has got to get scoring. (John) Siemer hasn’t scored in a long time. Those guys have to start getting the job done.”

A key NMU player most recently has been forward Dominik Shine. He has scored in five straight games, including the game-winning goal last Friday at Mankato. In December, the junior winger led the league in goals, points, shots and game-winning tallies. As a result, he was named WCHA Player of the Month. He’s also tied with Darren Nowick for the team-lead in goals with nine and points with 16.

Shine being at full strength has played a big role in his recent success as well as a change in the lineup.

“First, I think he got healthy,” he said. “That was the single biggest thing. He started to get healthy in Alaska and at that point, he looked very similar to how he does now.

“There was a little stretch where he got suspended three or four games or something like that, so that set him back. But then he had a series where he played a couple games and he played very well.

“Then we had Christmas break and he came back and continued. I think he’s been good for us for a significant amount of time. Now that we’ve put him with Nowick, those two have become really good together. I think that’s also contributed.”

Shine credited his teammates for his recent success and that healing from his early injury has helped.

“Honestly, I think it’s just because my linemates have been playing really well,” he said. “That just makes it easier for me. I’ve gotten my chances. Sometimes they go in and sometimes they don’t. Right now, they’re going in. Now I think I’m starting to heal up and I feel pretty good.”

Looking back on last weekend, the Wildcats picked up a split with the WCHA-leading Mavericks. Despite being heavily outshot in both contests, including 43-15 on Saturday, Northern kept MSU’s scoring opportunities to a minimum. Freshman goalies Atte Tolvanen and Mathias Israelsson continued to shine in net for the Wildcats.

“I think the win Friday put us within earshot of crawling back into the race,” Kyle said. “We just weren’t able to get it done Saturday.

“I thought we played exceptionally well Friday. We lost (Shane) Sooth and (Ryan) Trenz in the first (period) and that shortened our bench. I think we got some guys tired on Friday and we got fatigued in the game Saturday and it showed.”

Going in, Maschmeyer said that the win over Michigan State helped provide a boost.

“It definitely built our team up and you definitely saw that,” he said. “In the games, it felt like we were a different team, like we were playing to our potential. It feels like we took a big step. It’s really exciting to see us perform like that again. Now it’s time to bring it into this weekend.”

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.