Northern Michigan always seems to get in the way of the MSU hockey team's quest for a CCHA championship.
This year is no exception.
The No. 3-seeded Spartans and No. 6-seeded Wildcats meet for the fifth time - and third straight - in the CCHA playoffs. The two teams kick off the CCHA Super Six quarterfinals at 4:05 p.m. at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
In 2003, the Wildcats sent the Spartans home in the quarterfinals with a 7-5 win; in 2002, MSU won 2-1 in the semifinal game.
"I wouldn't say we want revenge from last year - we just want to win," junior captain Jim Slater said. "This means a lot for our team this year. We want to go places, and we have to win against Northern to do those things."
The Spartans are coming off a home sweep of Ferris State in which they had to come from behind in game two before claiming the first-round series. The Wildcats are coming off a sweep at Alaska-Fairbanks without their starting netminder, Craig Kowalski.
The Spartans aren't taking this Northern team lightly. They learned a lesson back on Jan. 3 when the Wildcats forced overtime with 2.3 seconds left after coming back from a 5-3 deficit. Northern eventually won in overtime.
"I remember last year playing them in the (CCHA quarterfinals) and them beating us. I know this year they upset us in game two; last year (in the regular season) they beat us 10-4 - we're taking them seriously," sophomore forward David Booth said.
MSU head coach Rick Comley said the key to this series will be the production of Ash Goldie's line. The junior centers the second line between juniors Brock Radunske and Adam Nightingale.
"Slater's line - we know they're going to play well," Comley said. "(But) you can't win with one line. Goldie's line has shown us they can impact a game, but now you have to do it."
The trio has just two points in the past five games.
"As a second line, we need to produce," Nightingale said. "Friday just seemed like one of those nights where every time you're down on the ice, everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong. You can't let it happen again.
"Especially this time of the year, three juniors on a line - that's unacceptable for us to play that way. Coach puts us out in situations, and we need to capitalize on those."
The Spartans said they are confident with their play as of late. They're 8-1-1 since February, including a 1-0 win over intrastate rival Michigan at Joe Louis.
"We're playing some of our best hockey that we've played with since I've been here," Booth said. "We're starting to find ways to come from behind, and a sign of a championship team is coming behind and win.
"(Northern's) coming off a long trip, so they're going to be tired. We've played at the Joe three, four times this year, so that's an advantage - familiar with the rink, familiar with the atmosphere. If we play our game, play our system, we'll be hard to beat."
