With a spot in the postseason in their sights, the UA Icecats (7-6-1) host Depaul today at 7:30 p.m. and tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Convention Center.
Arizona comes into the matchup undefeated in 2005 after sweeping St. Louis last weekend.
Icecat head coach Leo Golembiewski said if UA is to spend March in Bensenville, Ill., site of the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Championship tournament, it must continue a winning trend.
"It's do or die for us now," he said. "Every game is the season."
A game with a tough Oklahoma squad is just a week away, and the winner of that series will likely earn a berth in the tournament.
The Icecats, however, are not looking past DePaul (5-8-1).
Before the winter break, co-captain and senior forward Mickey Meehan said the Icecats had a goal of running the table this semester, and that includes playing every game, one game at a time.
However, the Icecats' ambitions of a perfect semester depend on increasing its offensive production, Golembiewski said.
"We're throwing a lot of rubber at the nets," Golembiewski said. "We need to work on our shot selection, and with that, the goals will come."
Despite boasting a nearly 3-to-1 shots-on-goal advantage, Arizona has registered only six more goals than its opponents on the season.
Junior newcomer and defenseman Nick Wedster said the team's looking to "crash the net."
"We just got to pop in the garbage goals, and coach loves the shots on rebounds," he said.
Wedster is familiar with this Blue Demon team, having met it while playing at Robert Morris College before transferring to the UA.
Junior defenseman D.J. Pelletier, who made his return last week following a two-month absence due to injury, said the key for the Icecats this week is execution.
"We're working on putting some pucks in the net, just finishing," he said. "We had six goals against St. Louis, but it could have been 16."
Adding to UA's question marks on the offensive end is the health of Meehan and freshman center Craig Irwin.
Meehan will likely miss the DePaul series due to a knee injury incurred against St. Louis.
Irwin is out for up to six weeks because of an arm injury, which he also suffered against SLU.
Though UA has struggled on offense at times this season, the team has caused problems for opposing offenses on the other side of the puck.
In recent outings, Arizona allowed SLU just two goals in two games, and held a prolific ASU offense four goals below its per-game average on Dec. 3.
Golembiewski said the Icecat defense will continue to play better with D.J. Pelletier back in the lineup alongside his brother, junior Mike Pelletier.
Goaltenders Bryan Aronchick and Luke Edwall back the Icecats' defense.
Aronchick has started 12 of the Icecats' 14 games this season and has been a wall.
Meanwhile, the freshman Edwall worked a shutout in his first college appearance Saturday.
DePaul forwards Niko Doulas, Sam Angarone and Matt Greenwood will challenge the Icecats' defensive line.
Doulas has scored nine goals this season, while Angarone and Greenwood have each lit the goal lamp seven times.