BOWLING GREEN — With time running out in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season, the puzzle pieces are more or less on the table.
Where they fit is another matter altogether.
The No. 1 seed is all but decided, as Minnesota State will claim home ice throughout the WCHA tournament with a single point from any of its four remaining games.
Going into this weekend, only three points separate fifth from second place, where Bowling Green (19-8-4) currently is tied with Lake Superior State. The Falcons could end up anywhere from second — guaranteeing home ice through the WCHA semifinals — to fifth, which would force them to start the league tournament on the road.
Bowling Green is 6-5-1 in 2019, and its fight to play as long as possible at Slater Family Ice Arena is still ongoing.
“You look back, and a point here, a point there — you realize how critical all those points are when you’re sitting here right now, tied,” Falcons coach Chris Bergeron said.
The Falcons will play their final scheduled road games of the season at Bemidji (Minn.) State, which split the series with the Falcons in Bowling Green in early January. At 44 WCHA points, the Beavers are just three behind Bowling Green.
BG will be without defenseman Tim Theocharidis (lower body injury), while forward Lukas Craggs will be suspended for Friday night’s game following a third game misconduct penalty last week against Alaska.
With home ice in the balance for both teams, the Falcons are expecting the best from Bemidji State.
“Looking back at the second half of the year, they may have been the best team we’ve played,” Bergeron said of Bemidji State. “They came into our building, and they took it to us for, I think, 4 1/2 out of six periods, if not five out of six.”
Bowling Green currently sits at No. 16 in the PairWise rankings, outside of the picture for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.
As the picture stands now, Bowling Green would need to win the WCHA tournament and clinch the league’s automatic bid in the 16-team NCAA field.
While home ice matters to the Falcons, both for their fans and their travel, the bigger concern for Bowling Green is to return to the way it played earlier in the season. If the Falcons can play their best game, Bergeron said, it will translate to any venue.
“I feel our team’s best game is a pretty good game, and it could be a handful for whoever — if we’re able to play it,” Bergeron said. “And that means wherever, too.”
Following this weekend’s series at Bemidji State, the Falcons finish the regular with Alaska Anchorage, which sits in last place in the WCHA.
As time runs out, points will be at a premium for the Falcons’ final four games.
“The toughest thing to convince a 20-year-old boy [of] is that the first two games of the year are as important as the last two,” Bergeron said. “But right now, it’s all we have left, so I think the next two series are extremely important.”
First Published February 21, 2019, 11:30 a.m.
