Northern Michigan University forward Robbie Payne, center, guides the puck past Nebraska-Omaha defensemen Luc Snuggard, right, and Teemu Pulkkinen, right hidden, on Nov. 26, 2016, at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. (Journal photo by Rachel Oakley)

MARQUETTE — The Northern Michigan University hockey team returns home this weekend, a place the Wildcats are winless this season in large part due to their struggle to score goals.

But a little momentum might’ve gained all the way up in Alaska. NMU snapped an eight-game winless streak there to close out their series on Saturday night against Alaska-Anchorage, salvaging a split and getting back out of last place in the WCHA.

Now Northern faces a surprising Alabama-Huntsville squad that is tied for fifth in the league. The Chargers (5-11-2, 5-7-2 WCHA) are coming off of a split with Ferris State, a team they swept on the road to open the season.

NMU head coach Walt Kyle says Huntsville is better than last year and they will be a challenge.

“They are a much improved team,” he said. “They tied (Michigan) Tech at Tech and beat Ferris down there.

“They have good goaltending. Their forwards can get up and go and it looks like they have some good defensemen as well.

“We’ll have our hands full. There isn’t anyone in this league where we think that we’re going to have an easy night. It’s going to be a tough weekend.”

More difficulties may come with some missing players due to injuries and a suspension.

Forward Troy Loggins is out for Friday’s game after the league suspended him for one game after a high hit against an Anchorage player.

Defenseman James Vermeulen is out again with a broken jaw after sitting out the majority of the season with that same issue. Goalie Mathias Israelsson’s status is also questionable after he injured his leg against Nebraska-Omaha two weeks ago.

The status of the Chargers’ goalie, on the other hand, is not up in the air. Huntsville is known for its goaltending with junior Jordan Uhleski putting up some decent numbers so far. He also unseated the talented tandem of Carmine Guerriero and Matt Larose, whose stats have fallen off this year.

Offensively, UAH is led by forwards Max McHugh and Josh Kestner, along with defensemen Kurt Gosselin and Cam Knight, all of whom are in double digits in points.

Gosselin was also named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week after picking up a hat trick in a win over Ferris last weekend. His “hatty” was the first this year by an NCAA Division I defenseman and was Huntsville’s first since 2008. Gosselin and Knight are also fourth in the country in points per game for defensemen.

As a group, though, the Chargers aren’t very good offensively, similar to Northern in overall production.

Despite struggling all season offensively overall as well as on the power play, things might turn around for the Wildcats. NMU scored seven goals last weekend against Anchorage, including two goals with the man advantage during Saturday’s win.

“I thought we played well both nights,” Kyle said. “Our game is getting better. Our penalty kill has, I think, let in two goals in our last five games. Before that, we were doing that almost daily. Our power play got a couple on Saturday.

“Atte (Tolvanen) played really well in four straight games. We have some things right now that show that we are kind of turning the corner.”

The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. both Friday and Saturday. On Friday, Northern will hold its Rock Your Socks event and on Saturday will be the Teddy Bear Toss. Both events benefit local causes and the Wildcats want their fans to go home with a victory.

“We haven’t been good at home and I think this is the first year since I’ve been here where we’ve been like this,” Kyle said.

“You have to be good at home not only for your record but for the people who come out every night. We don’t want to disappoint them.”

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.