Last week, Illini hockey head coach Chad Cassel referred to his team’s series against Iowa State as their “second test of the season.”

However, this weekend’s series might be an even better gauge of the character and resilience of the Illini.

Although this weekend’s game features two teams heading in opposite directions, Illinois (9-3) will be facing Division II Iowa (3-9) without one of its top scoring threats. Senior forward Matt Jennings, Illinois’ number two goal scorer this season, sustained a hairline fracture in his wrist in last Saturday’s game against Iowa State. Jennings has already netted eight goals, and has been a force on the Illini power-play.

“It’s a big gap. Jennings is a really good player, and he’s been putting the puck away for us,” senior captain Pierce Butler said. “We’re going to miss him in the lineup for sure.”

This week, the Illini have been focusing on adjusting without the senior forward. With the loss of Jennings, players are looking to relish the playing time left by his absence. While Cassel is obviously disappointed that he is losing his senior leader, he views the situation as an opportunity for junior forwards Daniel Cohen and Mike McBride, who will receive the bulk of Jennings’ playing time, to step up and make the best of the situation they are given.

“I think that this weekend is a big weekend for me and McBride and everyone else will step up to fill Jennings role,” Cohen said. “In practice, we’ve tried to bear down a little bit more, just because it’s more important that when we get the opportunities to make the most of them, and put the puck in the net.”

Despite the key loss of Jennings, Cassel likes his depth at the forward position. The Illini are lucky that they have experienced players like Cohen and McBride that can fill in when a crucial player goes down. The two forwards will likely play by committee on the first-team power-play.

Illinois looks to not only improve upon a power-play offense that went 3-for-12 over the weekend, but to get over its notorious habit of starting games off slowly. The Illini didn’t have a first-period goal in either game last weekend, and the Illini’s first-period woes are slowly becoming a trend. Fortunately, Illinois has been able to get it going late in games, but in Saturday’s game against Iowa State it seemed everyone was waiting for an offensive spark that never came.

“I think both games we got off to a slow start, and Saturday it definitely hurt us,” McBride said. “Saturday, they definitely took advantage of our slow start more than they did Friday. I think Friday we got a little lucky, they only had a one-goal lead on us before we came back and got three of our own. It’s something we need to work on.”

Saturday’s loss marked the end of a seven-game winning streak for Illinois. The Illini will face off against an Iowa team that is in the middle of a nine-game slide after being on the wrong side of a sweep against Illinois State last weekend. Even with Iowa’s recent struggles, Illinois has to focus on starting tough and getting its offense consistent in this series.

“We have to start the game how we usually play in the third period,” Butler said. “We got to get into that mindset to start like we’re down two goals.”