MARQUETTE – Every series is important for in a tight WCHA race, but this weekend ratchets it up to a “must-win” weekend for the Northern Michigan University hockey team.

Thanks to last week’s split at Ferris State, the Wildcats (13-11-6, 10-8-4 WCHA) are still in fifth place and four points behind the Bulldogs for the final home berth in the first round of the league playoffs. But even fifth place isn’t secure for Northern with Bemidji State just four points back.

If the Wildcats want to earn home ice in the WCHA playoffs, they need a sweep this weekend against last-place Alabama-Huntsville (6-17-5, 4-13-5 WCHA).

That won’t be an easy task. The 10th-place Chargers may have a sub-.500 record but are still gunning for the eighth WCHA playoff spot, just three points behind Alaska-Anchorage, which has that spot.

Huntsville battled WCHA leader Minnesota State to a pair of ties last weekend and the last time the Chargers faced Northern, it was a hard-fought series in Alabama even as the Wildcats earned three out of four points.

“We went down there and won a game that we were outshot in and tied the game the second night,” NMU head coach Walt Kyle said. “It’s a fine line between winning and losing. It can be based on health, your ability to score goals and all of those things.

“It’s a very competitive league from top to bottom. You have to know every night that you’re going to be in for a test.”

Last year, the Chargers had little more than their goalies to rely upon. That part of their game is still their best, but this year, UAH also supports them with a capable offense.

Three UAH players have more than 15 points with Max McHugh on top with 21. Chad Brears and Brennan Saulnier both have 17 and Brears leads the Chargers in goals with nine. Still, UAH sits near the bottom in the nation offensively and is an anemic 57th on the power play out of 60 schools.

What Huntsville is known for is defense and as expected, the netminders lead the way. Matt Larose is 13th nationally in saves percentage (.931) and has a solid goals-against average of 2.24.

Carmine Guerriero was last year’s starter, but his stats aren’t as strong now. But he can still steal an occasional game for the Chargers. UAH is also solid on the penalty kill (tied for 22nd) and in the middle of the pack in total defense (36th).

All things considered, this weekend has the makings of a goaltending duel.

Northern’s goaltending situation seems to have sorted itself out for the stretch run. Kyle said that senior Mathias Dahlstrom is emerging from the three-man deadlock and will probably be the No. 1 starter down the stretch. Dahlstrom is undefeated at 5-0 and appears to be back to his old self in net.

“Right now, Dahly is going to be the guy,” Kyle said. “We’re probably going to give more games to him than the other guys. Those two guys (freshmen Atte Tolvanen and Mathias Israelsson) aren’t out of it at all, but he’s come back in and started to find his rhythm.

“The plan in August was that Dahly would be the (No.) 1 and those guys would be the backups. Tolvanen came in and did a great job when he had the opportunity. Israelsson came in and also did a great job, but the reality is right now, we’re going with Dahly.”

Last weekend, Northern got hammered with four second-period goals Friday in a 5-1 loss to Ferris, but rebounded Saturday from a two-goal deficit to score three unanswered in a 3-2 win.

“On Friday, they really came out hard,” Kyle said. “As a coach, I knew it was going to happen. I’ve coached in that building enough to know how difficult it is to play in when you’re under forechecking pressure. Until you experience it and know it, it’s a hard thing to do. That was a big shock and I give Ferris credit. They played really well.

“I thought Saturday that we responded pretty well. We came out and played well in the first. We got our feet back under us and I thought the rest of the game was a good hockey game. We needed to get a split to keep our realistic options at home ice alive and I’m proud of the guys to be able to do that.

“One thing that I did not like Friday was what we call in hockey ‘follow-up shifts.’ When you get scored on or you score a goal, your next several times on the ice are follow-ups. You need to have good follow-ups to change momentum or keep momentum. We didn’t do that on Friday. They scored boom-boom and later, they scored again boom-boom. Games get away from you like that and that’s what happened.”

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