Spring Lake Park at Blaine
7:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 13

They may share a home rink, but Spring Lake Park and Blaine certainly aren’t friendly neighbors.

The Fogerty Arena dwellers battle it out on their home turf Friday night. But the question is who gets the visiting locker room? In this case, it’s the Panthers, as Blaine is hosting the Valentine’s Eve game.

With both teams expected to advance deep in their respective playoffs, maybe they could make a wager based on prime ice time over the coming weeks, as well.

Spring Lake Park (13-9-1) is one of the favorites in Class 1A, Section 5, although the Panthers are on a 0-3-1 skid over the last 10 days. They scored a total of eight goals in those four games, well under their average of 4.74 per game. Jacob Nystrom (24-21-45) and Deven Sunell (19-25-44) lead the normally potent Spring Lake Park offense.

No. 7-2A Blaine (17-5-1) has been streaking, as well, but it’s been an 11-0-1 stretch since losing to East Grand Forks 2-1 on Jan. 2. After graduating a big senior class, the Bengals were breaking in a new lineup early this year, but they certainly seem to be jelling well now. Easton Brodzinski (23-15-38) recently verbally committed to St. Cloud State and is one of three 20-goal scorers along with Luke Notermann (23-23-46) and Riley Tufte (20-26-46).