Just like a hockey game, the hockey season can be split into three periods, and even the season-ending tournament can be classified as overtime.

The First Period: Cyclone Hockey is 12-2, and approximately one-third of the team’s regular season games have been played, meaning time has expired in the first period of the season. Coach Al Murdoch sat down and reflected on the five aspects of the first period, as well as what the second period may hold for the Cyclones.

The offense as a whole has shown nothing but dominance, he said. They have outscored their opponents 114 to 34 and are averaging 8.1 goals a game. The offense is primarily driven by Jason Brown, Allen Raushel, Trevor Graham, Jayson Peterson and Mike Murtaugh, all of whom have more than 20 points on the season. Brown leads the team in points with 28, Murtaugh leads in goals with 14 and Raushel leads in assists with 18.

“I think the chemistry of the lines has been excellent so far,” Murdoch said.

“We’ve gotten scoring from all four lines that have played each night.”

The defense this season has allowed only 34 goals. The leader of the defense is senior and team captain David Moline. Moline not only sets an example during games, he is also responsible for leading drills during practice.

“Moline as a senior, I think, is going out on a high note,” Murdoch said. “He’s going to give it all the gusto he can give it.”

The goalkeeping has been a strength of the Cyclones all season long, as well. The team has three goalkeepers that all contribute on any given night. Collectively, Matt Johnson, Trent Baker and Geoff Miller have a save percentage of 90.1 percent. The team has a sort of philosophy put forth by their coach to help the entire team.

“The better the goaltending, the better the shooters,” Murdoch said.

“And the better the shooters, the better the goaltending.”

Losing nine seniors from last year’s team made overall team chemistry one of the biggest questions coming into the season.

The team, however, is 12-2, and rookies and veterans are playing well together, making chemistry no longer an issue.

The team is reaping the benefits of a highly successful recruiting strategy.

“[We tried to recruit players] with good hockey experience,” Murdoch said. “What we mean is they played through high school and then two or three years of junior hockey. In addition to that, many of them have had leadership roles on the teams they have been on before.”

The lone blemish of the season was the first road series in which the team dropped two straight games to preseason No. 3 Ohio.

In reality, the series could have gone either way, as power plays proved to be the difference in the series.

Five of Ohio’s 11 goals were scored on the power play.

“If you want to look at the positives in a loss, it gives you something to build on. Something to coach, too, and the players respond really well to that,” Murdoch said.

The Second Period: The second period of the season will bring many challenges to the Cyclones. They are scheduled to face ranked opponents Oklahoma and Robert Morris College in the coming weeks, and also have their first three-day tournament of the season, which will give the team a taste of what the tournaments at the end of the season will be like.

The challenges of the second period start this weekend, as they travel to Des Moines to play in the Metro Ice Sports Arena for a series against Minnesota. The puck drops at 1:30 p.m. Friday and again on Saturday.