St. Cloud has already locked up their second straight NCHC title, but with three weeks still to play in the regular season, this top 10 matchup is huge for momentum going into the conference tournament. The Broncos come in splitting their last three series to unranked opponents. The Huskies on the other hand, have been rolling and are showing no signs of slowing down.
The last time these two teams met, the Huskies had no problem defending home ice. They handled the Broncos fairly easily winning 3-0 and 5-3. The Broncos struggled to get the offense going until late in game two. It was too late that point.
Keys to the series
Despite their struggles as of late, and their previous lack of success against SCSU, the Broncos have every reason to be confident going into this weekend. Why? Lawson Arena has been where top-ranked teams go to die. With the Broncos playing behind their rowdy student section, the Lawson Lunatics, highly ranked teams have seen little success in Kalamazoo. In early December, the defending national champion Bulldogs from Minnesota Duluth came to Kalamazoo and were swept. Although the second game officially ended in a tie, the Broncos stole a win in a shootout. Then, at the end of January, #4 Denver came into Lawson and was dominated, losing 3-1 and 5-1. The Lawson Lunatics should have the Broncos fueled for this weekend’s series.
If the Broncos want to win this weekend they will need more than the home ice advantage. Goaltender, Trevor Gorsuch, had been playing well this season until the last three series. Giving up 27 goals in the last six games, his struggles have hurt the Broncos who have had to play from behind often. To pull of a pair of upset wins, Gorsuch is going to have to find a way to get back to form from earlier in the season.
For the Huskies, they just need to keep playing their brand of hockey. Led by Hobey Baker Finalist and three-time captain, Jimmy Schuldt, SCSU is showing no signs of fatigue. Schuldt has been anchoring a defense that’s among the best in the nation while forward Patrick Newell carries the offense, leading the league in points. They’re the #1 team in the country for a reason and they’re going to make it a hard fought series.
Predictions
I see the Broncos getting back on track and getting the Huskies out of their comfort zone. Lawson Arena is going to be rocking and I expect the Broncos to feed off the energy. I think this will be similar to their UMD series earlier in the year. I expect the Broncos to win one game outright and could easily see the other going to a shootout.
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