Last weekend was a complete disaster for Miami, and now the RedHawks visit the team that beat them by a 19-1 aggregate margin when they traveled to St. Cloud State for a weekend series last February.
It can’t get a whole lot worse than a month of getting outscored, 32-2 in January, right?
For Miami, the positive spin is that the proverbial bar for this series is very low.
The RedHawks have dropped seven straight and suffered their home loss in Cady Arena history on Saturday.
A look at this weekend’s matchup:
WHO: Miami RedHawks (7-17-2, 2-13-1 NCHC) at No. 5 St. Cloud State (18-8, 10-6).
WHERE: Herb Brooks National Hockey Center (5,159), St. Cloud, Minn.
WHEN: Friday — 8:30 p.m.; Saturday — 7 p.m.
ALL-TIME SERIES: St. Cloud State leads, 30-19-4.
STREAMING: NCHC.tv ($).
MIAMI RADIO: Both nights — WKBV-AM (1490), Richmond, Ind.
ST. CLOUD STATE RADIO: Both nights — WNSI-AM (1490) and WNSI-FM (99.3), St. Cloud, Minn.
NOTES: St. Cloud State topped both polls heading into last weekend but dropped to fifth after getting swept at in-state rival Minn.-Duluth.
The Huskies continue to employ a goalie rotation system, a la Miami in the Jeff and Eff, Cody and Connor and Jay and McKay days, and it has worked very well for them, except Dominic Basse and Jaxon Castor both let five goals in against the Huskies.
St. Cloud State hasn’t done the designated Friday goalie/Saturday goalie thing, but both have excellent numbers despite the losses last weekend.
Castor has a 2.09 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage, and Basse — a Colorado College transfer — has a .923 save percentage and a GAA of 2.02.
Up front, the trio of Grant Cruikshank, Jami Krannila and Zach Okabe have been dominant all season.
Cruikshank — also a former Tiger — is tied for third in the NCAA with 17 goals, and he has 10 assists for 27 points.
Kranilla is tops on St. Cloud State in points (15-16-31) and is tied for 12th-best in Division I. Okabe also has 15 goals, including five on the power play, and 27 points.
Dylan Anhorn (5-20-25) and Jack Peart (2-18-20) are the Huskies’ two biggest offensive threats on the back end, and Brendan Bushy has logged 163 career games in five seasons at SCSU.
Herb Brooks Center has always been a difficult place for opponents to steal points, as Miami found out in 2021-22, and this season has been no exception. St. Cloud State is 11-2 on its home ice, including wins in seven of its last eight.
Even scarier: The Huskies are 5-0 at home this season against teams ranked in the top three in the polls. But Miami is not currently ranked in the top three of either poll.
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