The last time the No. 1 Michigan hockey team played Lake Superior State, the Wolverines put up 11 goals and won both games by a four-goal margin. At that point, the Lakers were in the midst of a seven-game losing streak.

Quite a bit has changed since then.

Sure, Michigan is again the nation's top-ranked team and the Wolverine offense is coming off a nine-goal weekend against No. 2 Miami (Ohio).

But the Lakers are on a five-game unbeaten streak, largely because of stronger goaltending. Freshman Brian Mahoney-Wilson has worked his way up to an .895 save percentage. And Lake Superior State (4-13-5 CCHA, 6-16-6 overall) is desperately fighting for home ice in the first round of the CCHA playoffs.

Laker coach Jim Roque told Michigan coach Red Berenson it was the best he'd felt about his team all year.

So how does Michigan avoid a letdown?

"I just think we have to come in and work hard, put our workman's hat on, our work boots on and go to work at it," senior alternate captain Chad Kolarik said.

But the Wolverines (16-2-4, 23-3-4) know they will need more than grit to extinguish the Lakers' run.

"(We have to) let the team know we're not here just to pick up four points," freshman Louie Caporusso said. "We're here to make sure we make a statement and really show that we mean business."

That means upping the physical play against a slower but bigger team. In particular, Kolarik said, the team has focused in practice all week on stopping Lake Superior State's strong cycling of the puck down low.

It also entails dodging yet another potential trap weekend. Michigan has struggled against CCHA bottom-feeders twice this season (against Ohio State and Northern Michigan at home) with bigger games approaching. This weekend's series falls between games against Miami (Ohio) and Michigan State.

But with just six regular season games remaining, it's impossible to ignore the big picture - the CCHA standings.

Michigan is now atop the standings after a three-point weekend against the RedHawks, but Miami (Ohio) is just one point back and has no serious threats remaining on its schedule.

The Wolverines, on the other hand, are in a much different situation with a series against Michigan State scheduled for next weekend.

"No, we can't afford to give up any (points)," Kolarik said. "If we tie one, we're down in second place."