Illinois hockey looks to snap losing streak at home

In its first home game of the second half of the season, the Illinois hockey (16-12-1) team looks to snap a five-game losing streak as conference opponent Robert Morris (23-3-1) comes to town.

The Illini have posted a 10-2 record at home this season, and head coach Nick Fabbrini said he expects that this weekend’s series will be impacted by the home-ice advantage.

“Everyone is a lot more comfortable on our own ice,” Fabbrini said. “The fan support here is obviously outstanding. It’s probably the best rink in the country to play in. We’re expecting to have great crowds and great fan support, and we’ll build off that toward, hopefully, putting a good winning streak together here.”

In December, the Illini split a series with the Eagles. Fabbrini said he’ll strategize based off what he saw earlier this season.

“They’ve got a couple of really talented lines over there that we’re going to have to shut down,” Fabbrini said. “Hopefully, (we can) generate some offense on the rush and off the forecheck.”

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In two losses last weekend, the Illini spent 26 minutes in the penalty box on 13 infractions, and center John Olen said the team’s penalties were directly correlated to last weekend’s losses.

“We got in penalty trouble last weekend, and I think that didn’t help us at all,” Olen said. “If we stay out of the box, convert on the power play and just kind of play our game, I think we’ll be OK this weekend.”

Despite hitting a rough patch in the season, Fabbrini said he believes the Illini have been able to maintain a positive morale.

“(We’re) not really giving ourselves a chance to win certain games,” Fabbrini said. “We just need to win a game on Friday, and we’re back on track.”

While Illinois has been struggling to add to the win column, Robert Morris has been dominating games. The Eagles enter this weekend series on a seven-game win streak, outscoring their opponents 43-13 in that stretch.

However, Olen said he thinks the Illini are capable of a successful weekend, as long as they stay positive.

“We have to look at the little things, the little positives,” Olen said. “(We want to) keep guys moving forward because our goal is the national tournament. We don’t have to be the first seed, but just making it there is our goal.”

Matt can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter

@MattGertsmeier.