With three straight wins under its belt, the MSU hockey team seems to be heating up after a stormy first half of the season.
And senior left wing Brian Maloney hopes his scoring touch is next in line to be rekindled.
Maloney has been one of the Spartans' biggest disappointments in a disappointing season. He was MSU's leading returning goal-scorer entering the season after tallying 17 last year.
But through 21 games this season, he has scored just twice.
"I'm struggling in every category," Maloney said. "But I think I'm still an effective player out there. I'd be a little more worried if I was just floating around out there, not getting any chances or hits or anything.
"The chances are there, and I'm bound to put a couple in. If not, I'll hopefully get the game-winner in the national championship game for my third goal of the year."
Obviously, Maloney would love to notch a goal or two this weekend. But he said he would be content with another scoreless weekend as long as the Spartans (11-9-1 overall, 7-6-0 CCHA) sweep Nebraska-Omaha (8-11-3, 6-9-1). The teams face-off at 7:35 tonight and 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Munn Ice Arena.
This series is of the utmost importance to MSU, as it tries to climb out of seventh place in the league standings. But it's also important for the Spartans to get Maloney back on track - the sooner the better.
The 6-foot-1, 207-pounder from Bassano, Alberta, has a booming slapshot and enough strength to create havoc around the crease. But he hasn't done much of either this season.
He scored MSU's first goal of the year - against Colgate in October - and also tallied against Michigan Tech last month. Other than that, he has just seven assists and 22 penalty minutes on his stat line.
Maloney's scoring woes might be attributable to lingering effects from a debilitating injury he suffered in March. During a playoff game, he cracked two ribs and lacerated a kidney when he missed a body check and crashed into the boards.
He missed the rest of the season and didn't start playing again until the summer.
"I don't think about it on the ice," Maloney said. "I don't feel like that's the reason (for the slump). But you never know. I don't know why my stats are down. That could be a good reason. It's the only thing I can think of that makes sense."
To break out of his slump this weekend, Maloney will have to solve the underachieving Mavericks.
At the season's onset, experts thought Omaha would be one of the better teams in the CCHA. Although that hasn't been the case so far, MSU knows better than to take this weekend for granted.
"We've given away a couple of games where we haven't shown up," freshman defenseman Jared Nightingale said. "As coach has been telling us for the last couple of weeks, we have to treat every game like a playoff game. I think everybody's starting to get on the same page."
Ironically, Omaha has struggled on Friday nights this season, which is an affliction that has plagued MSU as well. The Mavericks are 2-7-2 and MSU is 3-6-1 on the first night of a series.
As far as style of play, MSU head coach Rick Comley said Omaha will be very similar to the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks, who visited Munn last weekend.
The Spartans will catch a break, of sorts, in that Omaha's star defenseman, Greg Zanon, isn't expected to play this weekend as he recovers from a broken kneecap suffered in December.
Maverick goaltender Dan Ellis came into the season as the most highly regarded goalie in the CCHA, but he has struggled throughout the year. He has a 3.10 goals against average, .899 saves percentage and two shutouts in 21 games this year.
"They have an outstanding goalie, no matter what his numbers are," Comley said. "The key is going to be getting traffic in front of Ellis.
"Anything less than four points is unacceptable at this time of the year. And you can't be afraid of that either. Any national possibilities for our team hinge on the next three or four weeks."
