(Photo Illustration by Adam Niemi/The Daily Mining Gazette; David Archambeau/Photo for The Daily Mining Gazette)

Michigan Tech faces a tall task this weekend.

Luckily for them, the No. 6-seed Huskies (21-15-3) have stood pretty tall lately.

Tech faces the No. 1 Minnesota State Mavericks (31-5-2) in the WCHA semifinals. Puck drop is 8:07 p.m. EDT on Friday, 7:07 p.m. Saturday and 6:07 p.m. Sunday (if necessary).

Michigan Tech is coming off a two-game sweep in the first round against Northern Michigan. The Mavericks swept Alaska Anchorage.

Minnesota State, ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division I poll, swept a weekend series against Tech in Houghton by 3-0 and 2-1 scores in November. The Mavericks were the nation’s No. 3 team at the time.

Both teams are different in subtle yet significant ways since then.

It’s a matchup between two teams that have won the WCHA title going back to 2016-17, when the Huskies won and repeated the following year. The Mavericks are looking to defend last year’s WCHA championship.

And they’re poised as ever to do it. But, as happened two years ago, the Huskies visited the heavily favored Mavericks and came out with a 2-1 series win.

“Same scenario as two years ago. They went in there one or two in the country,” Huskies head coach Joe Shawhan said. “We went in there and had to play tremendously well and we got better as the series went on and we were fortunate enough to come out with that.”

The series boils down to a simple matchup: Can the Huskies score consistently past one of the nation’s top goaltenders, Dryden McKay? They didn’t in November.

He’s had one of the best seasons of any goaltender in WCHA history. He ranks in the top 10 in 10 different conference statistical categories. His 10 shutouts this season is the most in conference history. He has the conference’s highest save percentage (.946), and second-lowest goals-against average (1.31).

And he’s only a sophomore.

McKay has the highest save percentage in the nation at .942. He has the second-highest win percentage (.862) and the lowest goals-against average of any goaltender in the country this season, at 1.31. Having played nearly 2,200 minutes, that means McKay gives up one goal about every two periods. It took Tech five periods to finally score a goal on him in November.

The Huskies managed a goal against him in the Nov. 9 game of a 2-1 loss. But that was a Huskies team that, at the time, hadn’t been scoring consistently. Since then, the Huskies of late have celebrated plenty of goals. Just ask Northern Michigan.

Tech players are confident coming off a series sweep against the rival Wildcats, including the series-clinching triple-overtime win. It was a game that, while playing from behind most of the night, the Huskies needed big goals. And they got them.

The Huskies’ averaged 3.10 goals a game the last 10 games. In the month of February (seven games), the Huskies averaged 3.28 goals, the highest scoring average of any month of the season.

“The guy has a lot of shutouts so hopefully we can get some past him this weekend,” junior forward Justin Misiak said.

Compare that to, say, November, when the Mavericks swept the Huskies, Tech averaged 2.11 goals a game.

Sophomore forward Tommy Parrottino said the Huskies are playing their best hockey of the season right now.

“I think so,” he said. “We’re clicking at the most crucial time of the season. It’s exciting.”

Shawhan said the team has put forth a more well-rounded effort of late.

“We’re playing as well as we have, better than we have at most points,” Shawhan said. “We’re scoring more goals relatively consistently. Our compete is good, our attention to detail is good, our players’ adjustments are good. Their internal accountability is good, goaltending is good. Every part of our game right now is growing as well. We’re continuing to improve virtually every time we’re on the ice. I think our guys have done an exceptional job from our seniors all the way down to our freshmen at getting themselves to be able to play at this time of year.”

Coronavirus & WCHA

The WCHA had not released a statement by press time about any possible measures being taken to stem the spread of COVID-19.

A league representative said “we’ll have an announcement on Thursday.”

The NCAA released a statement Wednesday saying only essential staff and limited family are allowed at upcoming NCAA tournaments. The NBA suspended the remainder of the season until further notice after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive. U.S. president Donald Trump suspended travel from Europe for 30 days.

NOTES: Sophomore forward Trenton Bliss suffered a shoulder injury on March 7 against Northern Michigan. Shawhan said he is not sure if Bliss will play this weekend against Minnesota State. … Tech’s No. 23 black jersey, belonging to co-captain Raymond Brice, went missing Tuesday. A team representative said a new jersey was made for Brice ahead of the series at Minnesota State.