Finlandia forward Matteo Ybarra battles with Trine defenseman Sam Antenucci during a game Saturday at the Houghton County Arena in Hancock. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

ADRIAN — With a record of 2-4 in their last six games, the Finlandia Lions men’s hockey team is still in the hunt for a playoff spot in the NCHA standings. Wins over Lake Forest and Northland have given the Lions, coupled with close losses to Lake Forest, Hamline, and No. 19 Trine, show that the team is moving in the right direction, even if they don’t have the results to show for it.

This past week, the Lions defeated Northland 2-1 in overtime before falling 5-3 and 5-0 to Trine. In both games against the Thunder, the Lions were in the game heading into the third period. They were tied three different times on Friday, and were down just 2-0 on Saturday heading into the final frame. Coach Joe Burcar feels that his team is still making strides.

“The margin of victory is becoming so close, but, at the same time, it becomes so frustrating,” Burcar said. “We’re knocking on the door. We’re taking quality, great teams, Trine is a ranked opponent, Lake Forest, St. Norbert (deep into games).”

For whatever reason, said Burcar, there is still a stretch of game time where the Lions struggle to maintain their focus and their composure. However, he feels that time is lessening as the team pushes forward.

“We have these meltdowns,” he said. “The beginning of the year, it was a period, it was two periods. Now it’s down to five minutes, seven minutes, or just a bad (penalty kill) or a bad faceoff. We didn’t make a good decision on the last draw, so the margin is just becoming so small. I know our guys see it. We as coaches see it. The improvements have been tremendous.”

Part of the issue is that the Lions need to learn to compete for a full 60 minutes, something they continue to struggle with.

“Sometimes, even for 60 minutes, you don’t get rewarded,” he said. “But until you start understanding that you have to compete for 60 in this league, you’re not going to get rewarded. They get it. They know. They get it. It’s frustrating just because we know we’re so close.”

After the team’s meltdown Saturday in the third period where they saw the Thunder score three times and also paraded to the penalty box, Burcar and his staff talked about how to handle things.

“We can’t live like that,” he said, “you can’t play the game like that.”

Being able to roll all four lines is something that Burcar continues to stress with the Lions as well.

“We’re a team that has to play four lines,” said Burcar. “That’s how we’re going to win games. We can’t rely on just Matteo (Ybarra), or P.J. (Donnelly), or a (Phil) Schader. We run on depth,. and our guys know that too.

“We’ve improved our scoring. We’ve improved our team defense. We’ve improved in special teams, faceoffs, so we’re close.”

Another area of the Lions’ game that continues to improve with every game is in goal, where sophomore Dakota Meyer has grown into the starting role. He has appeared in 14 games, starting 12 of them.

“You know what, he gets better every game,” Burcar said. “I think that’s, honestly, a good thing to see. When you see a goalie, he plays more and more and more, his confidence grows, and gets more comfortable with the shots are coming in and different opponents, with a 25-game schedule in a regular season, it’s nice to get that rhythm with one goalie.”

Sophomore Garrett Alton has also taken some big strides for the Lions this season. Recruited as a forward, Alton played defense against Trine. He scored his first career goal on Friday night, and has earned a regular spot in the lineup after spending his freshman year on the Lions’ club team.

“He’s pretty intriguing because we recruited him last year, and we felt last year he wasn’t going play at all,” said Burcar. “So, we played him on the club (team) where he would get a lot of minutes (and) develop. It worked out well.

This year, he didn’t play a lot in the first six games. but we identified him with a role where he has played left (defense), right (defense), center, right wing, left wing. The last four games, he’s been real comfortable on the back end with different guys being sick or injured. He’s moved up the depth chart. It’s nice to see him get rewarded, because that’s stuff that we talk about all the time.”

Scouting the Bulldogs

This weekend, the Lions hit the road to face the Adrian Bulldogs. The Bulldogs sit fourth in the NCHA standings with a record of 11-5-1 overall and 6-4 in NCHA play. They are coming off a sweep of Lawrence and have won seven in a row since losing to Trine on Nov. 19.

The Bulldogs are led by senior forward Matus Spodniak, who has a team-high 16 goals and 24 points in 15 games. Senior Ty Enns has also been very good, scoring 11 goals and 22 points in 15 games.

Junior Dershahn Stewart and senior Nic Tallarico have split time this season in the net for the Bulldogs. Stewart has appeared in nine games, going 7-1-1 with a 2.22 goals against average and a .917 save percentage. Tallarico has gone 5-1 with a 2.71 goals against average and an .894 save percentage.

Game times

Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m. at Arrington Ice Arena in Adrian. Saturday’s game is set to start at 3 p.m.