Certainly on the uptrend, Bowling Green is tied for fifth place in the CCHA, only three points from third after occupying seventh and eighth for nearly the entire season.
The Falcons have finally broken a deficit in scoring, now leading conference opponents in goals 27-26, one of only four teams to do so.
After being swept by St. Thomas in their first CCHA games, the Falcons have gone four straight weekends with a win, including a sweep of Ferris State last week.
Their opponent, Bemidji State, has not been able to replicate Bowling Green’s success in recent weeks. Their 5-5 record is good for fourth in the conference rankings after occupying first place for three weeks due mainly to their sweep of St. Thomas in the first series of the year.
They are 3-5 since then, losing a season series to Lake Superior State (1-3) and splitting with both Minnesota State and Michigan Tech.
The Beavers are still a formidable team despite having played poorly recently.
One of the strengths of the Beaver skaters is their depth. 14 players have 2+ goals, nine with 4+ assists, seven with 9+ points, eight players with 10+ blocks, and all players below eight minutes of penalty.
Scoring is nearly evenly distributed among positions with defensemen Kyle Looft and Eric Pohlkamp leading in points and shots respectively.
The Beavers are a tough team to defend as unlike other teams, there is no true goal-scorer. While it is true that 14 players have above two goals, there is no player with more than eight. This makes it difficult to keep a player on the “watch list” when so many players are efficient offensive players.
Their downfall has been spotty goaltending.
Senior Gavin Enright has inhabited the crease about 7/10 of the total time with a .862 save percentage allowing 3.35 goals per game, the second-worst in the CCHA. He has a 4-7 record with 42 goals allowed, nine powerplay goals allowed, and 25 total goals allowed in the first period.
Enright has given up 4+ goals in eight of 10 conference matchups with three five-goal and two six-goal outings.
The Falcons and Beavers faceoff at 8:07 p.m. EST in Bemidji, MN on both Thursday and Friday in the Sanford Center.
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