After being on the road most of last week, where it played six games in two states at three different arenas, Cyclone Hockey returns home to face Lindenwood this weekend.

The No. 4 Cyclones (19-5-2, 6-2-0 CSCHL) finished their long road trip 3-3, but ISU coach Jason Fairman said that fatigue played a role in the team’s performance. Fairman said battling this fatigue with rest is the key element in winning the two-game series against Central State Collegiate Hockey League rival No. 13 Lindenwood (6-11-2, 4-2-1 CSCHL).

“We just had the longest road trip I have ever witnessed in my life,” Fairman said. “Rest is the key right now. I just hope come Thursday we’re healthy.”

To ensure the Cyclones are healthy by game time this weekend, Fairman canceled practice on Monday and has canceled all off-ice workouts for the rest of the week. Also, Fairman said that on-ice practices will be lighter than normal.

Fairman said he believes the break will have the Cyclones playing at a higher level as the week progresses and give them the edge against the Lindenwood.

“I told the team we did a lot of good things last week,” Fairman said. “I am hoping that the variable here is the rest factor. If we can take that away, because we were playing well before this, we can get back to that. And I think rest is the key to doing that.”

Fairman said getting back to the way they were playing means making adjustment on the team’s penalty kill and getting better at identifying coverage in the defensive zone.

Another benefit to the light workload this week is that it gives the team time to recover from sickness, said ISU defenseman Alec Wilhelmi.  

“I know that there was a cold going around the team,” Wilhelmi said. “We are trying to get recouped from that and at the same time get our studies back in check.”

ISU forward Chase Rey shares Fairman’s belief that the Cyclones need to return to their original game plan. He said if the Cyclones don’t improve their play in the defensive zone, the Lions’ speed will capitalize with a goal.

“From what I’ve seen [Lindenwood] has a lot of speed,” Rey said. “We have to contain that and play good d-zone, which we struggled a little bit with this past week. If we get back to our game, it will be a good series.”

Wilhelmi said that if the Cyclones can control the defensive zone and shut down the Lions offense, they will have no trouble winning both games of the series this weekend.

“Their weakness lies in their goaltending and defense,” Wilhelmi said. “I think we can shut their top scorers down, we will be fine.”  

Iowa State will play Lindenwood at 7:30 p.m. Friday and at 8 p.m. Saturday at the ISU/Ames Ice Arena.