FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks hockey team returns to the Carlson Center for their final home games of the 2018-19 season this week, hosting the No. 4 Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks in a two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association series this Friday, Feb. 22 and Saturday, Feb. 23. Puck-drop both nights is scheduled for 7:07pm AKST.
 

Opponent	#4 Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks (24-6-2, 19-4-1-1 WCHA)
Dates & Times	Friday, Feb. 22 at 7:07pm AKST | Saturday, Feb. 23 at 7:07pm AKST
Location	Carlson Center | Fairbanks, Alaska
Ticketing & Food Specials	All Weekend Buy one general admission ticket, get one general admission ticket free One pound of wings for $5 | $4 Coors Light pints
Giveaways	- Two roundtrip tickets anywhere Alaska Airlines flies (details below) - $100 Safeway gift certificates (one per night)
Weekend Events	Saturday, Feb. 23 Senior Night at 6:50pm AKST Post-game social at the Round-Up Steakhouse sponsored by the Face-Off Club
Game Notes	Nanooks | Mavericks
Follow Along	Live Stream ($): FloHockey.tv Live Box Score: CollegeHockeyStats.net Radio: KSUA 91.5 FM | ksuaradio.com
Social Media	Twitter | Facebook

Where to Watch & Listen
Fans who cannot make this weekend's games in Fairbanks can stream the game live on FloHockey.tv, as well as every contest for the remainder of the 2018-19 season. Longtime Nanook hockey commentator Bruce Cech will be live from the Carlson Center on KSUA 91.5 FM in Fairbanks or anywhere online at ksuaradio.com in the link posted above.

Weekend Specials
This weekend, the Alaska Nanooks Ticketing Office is offering a buy one general admission ticket, get one general admission ticket free special for both Friday and Saturday's games. The Alaska Nanooks Ticket Office is open Monday through Saturday in the Patty Center lobby, 11am – 7pm AKST. The Carlson Center will be hosting another food special this weekend, with one pound of wings for $5 at any concession stand and $4 Coors Light pints.

Giveaways
There will be three giveaways for patrons this weekend, including a pair of roundtrip tickets anywhere Alaska Airlines flies and two $100 Safeway gift certificates. In order to win the two roundtrip tickets on Alaska Airlines, fans must enter to win on Friday night and must be present to win on Saturday night. The winner will be announced at the beginning of the third period on Saturday and will have 10 minutes to claim the roundtrip tickets at the Face-Off Club table before a redraw. Additional entries can be made on Friday or Saturday if the patron spends $40 or more at the Face-Off Club table or the UAF Bookstore table and must show their receipt at the FOC table in order to receive the additional entry.

Furthermore, a $100 gift card to Safeway will be given out each night.

Entries for both the Safeway gift cards and the Alaska Airlines tickets will be located at the Face-Off Club table.

Events
The Alaska Nanooks will be honoring their four seniors on Saturday night, including #5 Nikolas Koberstein, #23 Ryker Leer, #22 Chad Staley and #2 Jack Weiss. The pre-game ceremony will take place at approximately 6:50pm AKST.

Additionally, there will be a post-game social at the Round-Up Steakhouse following Saturday's game, courtesy of the Face-Off Club.

Last Time Out
The Alaska Nanooks were on the road last weekend, taking on the then-No. 16th-ranked Bowling Green Falcons in a two-game WCHA series in Bowling Green, Ohio. The Nanooks dropped an 8-0 decision to the Falcons on Friday, before bouncing back on Saturday to earn a 3-3 overtime tie. Junior forward Kylar Hope scored a power play goal in double-overtime to give the Nooks the extra conference point.

WCHA Standings
The Alaska Nanooks walked away with two WCHA points after their series in Bowling Green, totaling 31 points through 22 conference contests this season. The Nooks hold sole possession of seventh place in the league standings with a 9-13-2-2 mark in conference matchups this season. Alaska's weekend opponent, Minnesota State, has clinched the McNaughton Cup, the regular season champion title and first place in the league standings with a 19-4-1-1 WCHA record for 59 points.

All-Time Series
This will be the 32nd and 33rd meeting between Minnesota State and Alaska, respectively, with their first-ever meeting resulting in an 8-2 victory for the Nanooks at home on Nov. 14, 1983. Alaska leads the all-time series between the two programs 15-13-2 and is 10-3-0 in Fairbanks. The Nanooks are currently riding a five-game losing streak to MSU, falling in their last two meetings earlier this season on Oct. 26 (0-4) and Oct. 27 (1-3) in Mankato.

The Nanooks' last win against Minnesota State was at home on Jan. 12, 2018, where the Nanooks posted a 5-0 victory over the Mavericks and junior goaltender Anton Martinsson registered his first career shutout. That win also marks the Nanooks shutout an opponent in conference play.

Free Hockey
The Nanooks have been a part of six games throughout the 2018-19 season that have reached a stalemate after 60 minutes of play. Alaska is 2-0-3-2 in games that have exceeded regulation play, with Oct. 20 at Denver, Nov. 9 at Lake Superior State and Feb. 16 at Bowling Green resulting in ties in the eyes of the NCAA. Since Oct. 20's game against Denver was a nonconference matchup, no 3-on-3 overtime or shootout was played due to the new NCAA rule. However, junior forwards Colton Leiter (at LSSU) and Kylar Hope (at BGSU) scored in the 3-on-3 double overtime to earn the extra conference points but were ultimately still considered ties.

Alaska earned their first overtime victory since Nov. 3, 2017 on Nov. 30 against Ferris State this season, as sophomore forward Steven Jandric scored 21 seconds into overtime to lift the Nanooks over the Bulldogs. Fellow sophomore forward Justin Young scored 52 seconds into overtime against Bemidji State on Jan. 11 to continue Alaska's hot streak after 60 minutes of play.

Intermission Edge
The Nanooks are 7-7-3 in games that they break open the scoring and 2-11-0 in contests where their opponent scores first. So far this season, Alaska is 4-0-3 when leading at the first intermission, 1-9-0 when trailing at the first intermission and 4-9-0 when tied after 20 minutes. Additionally, Alaska is 5-1-2 when leading at the second intermission, 1-17-0 when trailing and 3-0-1 when tied after 40 minutes.

Three's company
In Saturday's 3-3 overtime tie against Bowling Green, sophomore forward Steven Jandric tied his single-game career-high with a three-point effort (three assists) over the Falcons. S. Jandric becomes the fifth Alaska Nanook to register a three-point game this season, joining junior forward Kylar Hope, senior defenseman Nikolas Koberstein, junior forward Colton Leiter and junior defenseman Tristan Thompson. Of Alaska's 28 active players, only five have posted a three-point game throughout their careers as Nanooks.

Inching Toward 100
Four Nanooks are within 10 games of playing in 100 career games in the Blue and Gold, led by junior forward Troy Van Tetering, who has dressed in 97 games. Fellow juniors Kylar Hope (92), Colton Leiter (94) and Tristan Thompson (93) are on track to surpass 100 career games in Alaska makes the 2019 WCHA Playoffs and they dress in each of those games for the remainder of the season.

Scouting the Opponent – Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks
The No. 4th-ranked Mavericks are currently on a hot streak, going 8-1-1-1 in their last 10 games. Minnesota State currently leads the league in wins (24), least amount of losses (6), win percentage (.781), goals-for (117), power play percentage (.224) and boast the best team defense in the league, allowing a conference-low shots on goal against (744) and shots on goal margin (+227). Individually, the Mavericks have 14 players with double-digit points this season, including two players with 30-or-more points, led by junior forward Marc Michaelis with 15 goals and 16 assists for 33 points. In net, freshman goaltender Dryden McKay has tallied a 17-5-2 record with a .923 save percentage and a 1.87 goals against average.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks hockey team page on Facebook.