Centennial at Maple Grove
7 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 28

Saturday night’s game at Maple Grove Community Center is huge for two teams who probably see each other as the largest obstacle to securing both the Northwest Suburban Conference and Class 2A, Section 5 titles.

Centennial (12-3, 5-2) enters the week ranked No. 8-2A, and the Cougars are playing a solid all-around game with a healthy goals differential (5.07 t0 1.93). Individually, junior Lucas McGregor (14-13-27) scored six goals last week, and has three multi-goal games since the start of January.

The Cougars are coming off a big win over Blaine (8-2) last week, and have won five straight. The last team to beat Centennial was Maple Grove, who defeated the Cougars 5-3 on Jan. 5.

Maple Grove (12-4, 5-2) enters January playing perhaps its best hockey in years with strong scoring and consistency. Senior forward Sam Huff (14-23-37) is pushing 40 points for the No. 11-2A ranked Crimson. In the first meeting with Centennial, Huff finished with three assists, all on special teams, as Maple Grove rolled to victory.