Lakers look to rebound against MSU in regular season finale

The Central Collegiate Hockey Association Playoff pairings and first-round byes won’t be decided until the final horn sounds during the league’s final regular-season game on Saturday night. Miami clinched the regular-season title last Tuesday, but was promptly swept by second-place Michigan State last weekend.

The rest of the playoff scenario is a toss-up.

Fifth-ranked Michigan State (19-10-7 overall, 13-7-6 CCHA) overall is coming to Taffy Abel Arena at 7:35 p.m. on Thursday night holding a two-point lead over third-place Michigan. The Spartans have won five straight since going 0-2-2 in late January. They are arguably the league’s hottest team heading into the CCHA Playoffs, but need one more point to secure a first-round bye.

Michigan, which split with Nebraska-Omaha last weekend, closes out the regular season with a home-and-home series against Ferris State, which is currently in a three-way tie for eighth place with Alaska Fairbanks and Notre Dame.

Fourth-place Nebraska-Omaha, which has a three-point lead over fifth-place Lake Superior State (15-11-6 overall, 11-11-4 CCHA) and Northern Michigan, travels to 12th-place Western Michigan. The Wildcats, who swept the Lakers 4-3 in overtime and 5-1 last weekend and hold a tie-breaker advantage over LSSU, play host to seventh-place Ohio State. The only season-ending series that does not have pairing implications is 11th-place Bowling Green at Miami.

Only eight points separate the teams in second through 10th place. Only Miami has secured a first-round bye, which goes to the top four teams in the regular-season standings. LSSU and NMU have an outside chance of catching UNO for fourth place, but they also have yet to secure a top-eight finish and a chance to host a first-round series. The Lakers have a shot at hosting a CCHA Playoff series for the first time since the 1999-00 season.

Based on the current standings, the Lakers have a 2-3-1 record against the CCHA teams that are ahead of them and a 3-8-3 record against the remaining teams battling for home ice. That fact indicates that they have had a tendency to play better against the league’s top teams, but are definitely a bit inconsistent.

LSSU heads into this week’s series with a three-game losing skid and will try to end a five-game winless streak against the Spartans. Last season in East Lansing, MSU handed the Lakers their worst loss of the season, 8-0, but LSSU came back to tie the second game of the series, 2-2. A similar scenario happened to the Lakers two weeks ago in Omaha, and they followed that roller-coaster series with a 3-2 overtime victory over Michigan.

Notes: LSSU will be honoring its largest senior class in the 40-year history of Laker Hockey following Thursday’s game…Don’t forget that Saturday’s regular-season finale against Michigan State will be at 2:05 p.m. at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The game will not be televised, but will be broadcast live on Rock 101-FM. Visit www.collegehockeyatthejoe.com for ticket information. LSSU alumni can receive a $3 discount on tickets by calling the JLA Box Office…If the Lakers play host to a first-round CCHA Playoff series, tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Monday. All season ticket holders must purchase tickets for playoff games, but their seats will be held until Thursday of that week. Adult tickets will be $10 per game. LSSU students, with or without an athletics pass, must pay $3 for tickets. Children’s tickets are $5.50.

*** SATURDAY:

Lake Superior State's hopes for a top-four finish in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association were all but dashed by Upper Peninsula rival Northern Michigan, which polished off its four-game sweep of the Lakers with a 5-1 win Saturday at the Berry Events Center.

NMU (18-4-2 overall, 12-12-2 CCHA), which also won Friday's game in Sault Ste. Marie, 4-3 in overtime, scored four unanswered goals after Laker Troy Schwab tied it 1-1 at 4:08 of the second period.

The Lakers, who went into the game in fifth place in the CCHA standings, dropped to 15-11-6 overall and 11-11-4 in the league.

Mike Santorelli gave NMU a 1-0 lead at 14:38 of the first period. After Schwab tied it with a second-period power-play goal, Wilcats Nathan Oystrick, Matt Siddall, Santorelli and Nick Sirota scored four goals in a 7:26 span.

NMU, which has a seven-game win streak against LSSU, moved into a fifth-place tie with the Lakers in the CCHA standings. Ferris State, which tied with Ohio State as of press time, had a chance to make it a three-way deadlock. The one positive note was that fourth-place Nebraska-Omaha was trailing third-place Michigan, 4-2. Michigan State won 3-1 on Saturday and improved its second-place standing by handing league leader Miami its first sweep of the season.

LSSU goaltender Jeff Jakaitis totaled 18 saves through two periods and was replaced by senior Willie Ciccone in the third period. Ciccone had one save as the Lakers shut out NMU in the third period.

NMU goaltender Bill Zaniboni stopped 23 of 24 shots on goal.

*** FRIDAY:

The 19th-ranked Lake Superior State hockey team battled back from a 3-1 deficit only to lose 4-3 with 55 seconds remaining in overtime to Upper Peninsula nemesis Northern Michigan on Friday at Taffy Abel Arena.

NMU extended its win streak against LSSU to six games when Darin Olver forced a turnover right in front of Laker goaltender Jeff Jakaitis and chipped in the game-winner. Earlier in the overtime period, Wildcat goalie Bill Zaniboni stopped two point-blank shots by Laker defenseman Kory Scoran.

LSSU took a 1-0 lead at 1:00 of the first period on a goal by Matt Restoule, but NMU came back with three straight goals. The Wildcats' 3-1 lead stood until Laker Dominic Osman scored a power-play goal at 12:01 of the second period. Colin Nicholson tied it 3-3 with a short-handed goal at 11:41 of the third period.

Alex Dunn, in the lineup for the first time second suffering a shoulder injury in December, drew an assist on Restoule's goal along with Troy Schwab. Dan Eves and Jason Miller assisted on Osman's goal, while Nicholson's goal was unassisted. LSSU finished 1-for-7 on the power play, while NMU was 0-for-3. Jakaitis totaled 30 saves, and Zaniboni finished with 32.

Dirk Southern, Nick Sirota and Nathan Sigmund scored NMU's goals. Sigmund also had an assist for the night.

***

(Courtesy of the LSSU Sports Information Department)