“I’m not sure if any captain has had this many subtractions from a roster here before and as many speed bumps along the way,” Lerg said. “Just for me, I want to remain positive here the last month.”

The latest bump in the road came when MSU head coach Rick Comley suspended sophomore forward Corey Tropp and freshman forward Andrew Conboy for the rest of the season after they attacked Michigan’s Steve Kampfer in a 5-3 loss Saturday at Yost Ice Arena.

Comley said he had a big task ahead of him in practice this week to rid his team of distractions and get them focused on this weekend’s road series against Lake Superior.

“I’m sure every single player there agrees there had to be discipline and understands that,” Comley said. “Whether they agree with the severity of it is another thing. Some will deal with it differently than others for sure. It is a major challenge to get them mentally over it by (tonight).”

With the suspensions of Conboy and Tropp, the Spartans starting roster has fallen to the bare-minimum number of players. Comley will have to dress everyone to have the standard 18-man starting lineup.

Lerg said the opportunities for all of his healthy teammates to log large amounts of ice time might not necessarily be a bad thing.

“Guys came in to play, and they are going to play,” Lerg said. “I think that’s a good thing and guys can hopefully find some rhythm here.”

Three points are all that is separating last (12th place) from eighth place in the CCHA.

With the Spartans (7-16-3 overall, 4-12-2-2 CCHA) playing three teams in the bottom half of the standings in the next three weeks, Lerg said the upcoming schedule is vital if the Spartans are going to pull themselves out of last place in the league.

“We aren’t in the position to be looking over anyone,” Lerg said. “Obviously, every game for us is a battle.”

The Lakers have the same amount of wins as the Spartans but they’ve tied four more games — adding to their three-point lead, putting them in a tie for eighth place.

Comley said the last stretch of games was “really tough” for his team as they played 11 straight games against teams ranked in the top 20. MSU went 3-7-1 in the stretch.

But he said he feels the tough competition has strengthened his team and prepared them to gain ground in the standings in the upcoming weeks.

“This next stretch is going to be really important,” Comley said. “We have an opportunity to inch upward towards that home playoff spot. So there is a lot to play for. I think the kids understand that.”

The first game of the weekend series starts at 7:05 p.m. today at Taffy Abel Arena in Sault Ste. Marie.