Blaine at Benilde-St. Margaret's 
7 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 15

Last Friday night, No. 2-2A Benilde-St. Margaret’s prevailed 6-5 in overtime against No. 1-2A Eden Prairie before a packed house at the St. Louis Park Rec Center.

Tuesday night might offer a similar intensity as No. 4-2A Blaine comes into town also unbeaten and with its own set of players who can both move the puck and finish.

The Red Knights are riding a wave of momentum after knocking off the Eagles in an epic nonconference clash that offered a lot of everything: puck movement, speed, offense, defense, goaltending, penalty kills and power plays, not to mention the most prevalent thread…physicality. 

Expect a continuation of that Tuesday at the Rec Center as the No. 4-2A Bengals also like to get after the puck and throw their size around.

Blaine (6-0) is coming off Saturday's big 5-2 Northwest Suburban Conference victory at home over No. 12-2A Elk River in which senior forward Riley Tufte netted a hat trick and an assist. Linemate Luke Notermann recorded the playmaker (three assists) and scored a goal between two from Tufte in the Bengals' three-goal first period.

Blaine is averaging 6.50 goals per game while allowing 2.17, and its power play is firing at an impressive 33 percent. About half of the Bengals' 39 goals this season have come in the first period.

Tufte, a projected NHL first round draft pick and Minnesota-Duluth recruit, already has 14 goals and eight assists this season. Surprisingly, he’s not the team leader in points, as that title belongs to Notermann and his 8-14-22 effort that features three power-play and two shorthanded goals.

Meanwhile, Benilde-St. Margaret's (7-0) has a lot going for it, having won three times this year against teams that were at the time ranked in the top 10 in Class 2A (Grand Rapids, Hill-Murray and Eden Prairie)

Three Red Knights reached double digits for points production already. Auggie Moore and Cade Gleekel each have seven goals along with nine and eight assists, respectively. Zach Risteau has four goals and eight assists for 12 points. 

In net, Ryan Bischel has been steady for Benilde-St. Margaret's with a 1.86 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.