The No. 6 Michigan hockey team has only been shutout once this season.

It happened back in November, but the team that managed to blank the Wolverines’ potent offense is back to take a second crack at them.

Michigan (12-4-1-0 CCHA, 15-6-4 overall) split its initial series with Alaska-Fairbanks the first weekend of November, after being shutout 3-0 in the first game. But when the Nanooks and Wolverines suit up to play on Friday, both teams will be riding their recent successes right into the confines of Yost Ice Arena.

The Wolverines outscored opponents 13-3 during their current three-game win streak and look to continue their recent offensive outburst against Alaska, who split last weekend’s series with conference leader, No. 8 Notre Dame.

Sitting in 5th place in the CCHA, Alaska beat the Fighting Irish 4-1 last Saturday in South Bend, snapping Notre Dame’s four-game win streak. The Nanooks scored twice in the first period and twice in the third period on Saturday and head into this weekend’s matchup with their offense red-hot.

“I think Notre Dame got surprised at how good Alaska was in both games,” Michigan coach Red Berenson said Wednesday. “Now (Notre Dame) squeaked out the game on Friday, but supposedly Alaska was pretty much the better team all weekend. That’s a pretty good statement, when you go in and outplay and outshoot a first place team in their building. That’s what we’re up against.”

While the Nanook offense showed its flair in South Bend, Alaska’s biggest strength has been is its defense this season. Currently, the Nanooks boast the nation's No. 5 defense and only give up an average of 2.14 goals per game.

The Alaska defense has been stingy, thanks in large part to junior netminder Scott Greenham. A major cornerstone of Alaska’s success this season, Greenham has played in 22 games for the Nanooks and boasts a .926 save percentage with a 10-8-4 record.

“This team is going to be tough to score on,” Berenson said. “Goals are going to be precious on both ends. If you look at the stats … if you look at special teams, they’re pretty much identical to us. Goals against, they’re pretty much the same. We might have a little edge on the goals for, 5-on-5, but that’s it.”

But if there ever is a good time for the Wolverines to take on a top-5 defense, it’s when their own offense is coming off a nine-goal weekend sweep.

After falling behind 2-0 on Friday in a home-and-home matchup with Ferris State, the Wolverines rallied in front of the Yost crowd and scored three second-period goals to overtake the Bulldogs, 3-2. They carried Friday’s offensive momentum into the road game in Big Rapids and scored six goals to secure the sweep, 6-1.

“You want to be careful about over-confidence,” Berenson said. “But on the other hand, you want to encourage the momentum. I’m telling our team, ‘We've got to keep getting better. We can’t be happy with what we did Friday night.’ Maybe we got better Saturday, but … you just don’t do that.

“There’s a mindset, it’s the whole team. It’s not just the coach or one player, it’s the whole team. I want us to get out of our comfort zone. Where we’re not as comfortable, we’ve got to get better.”

But Michigan is taking it one step at a time this weekend. After garnering its first sweep since Nov. 20 against Lake Superior State, the Wolverines are counting on their offense to help stifle the Nanooks and repay the favor from Fairbanks.

“I think we need to focus on the little things again, because that’s what we did against Ferris,” junior forward Luke Glendening said. “It started in the defensive zone. We didn’t let up too many goals and that translated into offense, which was good for us.”