The Nanooks, who are winless in their last four games, rank 10th in the CCHA in scoring offense but have the second-ranked scoring defense in the conference. Game times are set for 11:05 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

“They look to be like a lot of teams,” head coach Rick Comley said. “They don’t score much, they have a very good goaltender, they’re a very patient team, they play better at home than on the road, perhaps.”

MSU went 1-0-1 against Alaska in October, tying the Nanooks, 1-1, and losing in a shootout on Oct. 22, 2010, and defeating them, 4-1, on Oct. 23, 2010. The Spartans hold a 38-12-3 all-time record in the series and are 3-1-2 in their last six at Alaska.

Like MSU, Alaska has struggled to score at times this season, but has received great play from goaltender Scott Greenham, who is 12-13-5 with a 2.04 goals-against-average, which ranks second in the CCHA.

MSU has received good goalie play from freshman goaltender Will Yanakeff, who Comley said Tuesday is the probable starter for the series and will try to bounce back from two straight losses, and junior goaltender Drew Palmisano.

With four games left, MSU likely needs a sweep to have a chance at home-ice advantage for the first round of the CCHA Tournament, while Alaska needs victories to work toward a first-round bye.

The Spartans occupy 10th place in the standings, and trail Ohio State by five points for ninth place and Alaska, Northern Michigan and Lake Superior State by nine points for sixth place.

The top five teams earn first-round byes, while the sixth, seventh and eighth seeds will host first-round games, and this weekend’s series could be a preview of a first-round match.

MSU will try to build off last weekend’s 52-shot effort against Northern Michigan on Friday and Saturday’s five-goal effort.

“Getting shots is the most important thing,” junior forward Trevor Nill said. “Fifty shots on Friday was great for us, but unfortunately a couple bounces didn’t go for us. If we keep getting shots, it’s going to go in eventually.”

After sweeping Ohio State on Jan. 28-29, the Nanooks were swept by Ferris State on Feb. 5-6, then went 0-1-1 last weekend against Lake Superior State, but hope to recover at home where they’re 7-5-2 this season.

The Spartans haven’t swept anyone this season, and will try to fix the defensive miscues that hurt them in their 6-5 loss against Northern Michigan on Saturday.

“I think you have to accept the fact that it’s probably going to be a one-goal game and going to be decided late,” Comley said. “We’ve seen progress, and we’ve seen growth. I think what was surprising Saturday was how we disappeared defensively.”

MSU (12-16-4 overall, 8-14-2 CCHA) traveled to Alaska last season and went 0-1-1, but will hope to do better this time and contain the Nanooks’ top scorers in Cody Kunyk, who leads the team with 21 points, and Kevin Petovello and Joe Sova, who each have 20 points.

The team also will have to maintain confidence after a disappointing performance last weekend and build for the upcoming CCHA Tournament.

“I remember it was really intense,” sophomore defenseman Torey Krug said of this season’s previous series against Alaska. “I don’t think much needs to be said about how important it is to start tuning up our game for the playoffs.

“The good thing about Spartan hockey is that anything can happen in the playoffs, and anything can happen from here on out.”