This weekend marks an important series for the MSU hockey team in the quest for home ice when the Spartans meet Bowling Green in a home-and-home series.
The Falcons are on a two-game winning streak, after sweeping Western Michigan last weekend, and have a 5-4-1 record in their past 10 games, all while evolving into a CCHA contender.
MSU, currently in eighth place in the CCHA, will be looking to move up in the standings against the fifth place Falcons as the season winds down.
Just as it was last weekend against Ohio State, special teams are stressed to be another critical factor this weekend.
"Special teams wins games for you," sophomore forward Tyler Howells said.
"If your special teams aren't going to do good, you're going to struggle to win the game, if you're special teams are firing on all cylinders, you got a good chance to win the game."
Bowling Green (15-11-4 overall, 12-9-3 CCHA) is led by goaltender Jordan Sigalet, who recently made public his battle with multiple sclerosis. Sigalet has not been slowed by the illness with a 2.64 goals against average and .923 save percentage.
Senior captain Jim Slater said the team has to get traffic in front of the net and pick up the rebounds.
"I think Jordan is probably, if not the best, one of the best goalies in the league right now," Slater said.
"He's going to make the first save, but if you can get traffic in front of him and keep whacking away and get second and third chances, one's bound to go in."
The Spartans (14-14-4, 9-12-3) and Falcons are even in the season series, with one win each. Sigalet made 46 saves on Dec. 3 at Munn Ice Arena to give his team a 2-1 win, but MSU bounced back the next night against a Sigalet-less Bowling Green team and won 6-4.
"It's a team that's gotten better," MSU head coach Rick Comley said.
"If you look at their balance, they have a bunch of players in that 20-point category. They've gotten progressively better."
The Falcons currently have five players that already have hit the 20-point mark on the season, and eight players with more than 10 points, making their balanced offensive attack a threat.
Bowling Green also has been unbeaten at home since Christmas, a streak the Spartans hope to an end.
"Every game's life or death no matter where it is, no matter their status or ours," senior forward Mike Lalonde said. "We need to win some games; we need to catch some people and try to get home ice and give ourselves a chance."
Junior forward David Booth, who sat out most of last weekend with a rib injury, is expected to play. Junior defenseman Corey Potter's status is still questionable with a hip injury.
"Booth is fine, Potter is definitely questionable," Comley said Thursday. "We'll wait 'til tomorrow to make the decision, but it doesn't look good right now."
Game time is 7:05 p.m. Friday in Bowling Green and 7:35 p.m. Saturday at Munn Ice Arena.
