“The guys have been more comfortable, and we have found some success (at home),” senior goaltender Jeff Lerg said. “We’ve had some close losses where we played well but just didn’t win. I think that’s a good sign.”

With only one road win this season, it’s no surprise the Spartans (7-18-3 overall, 4-14-2-2 CCHA) are ready to return to the home barn.

“I think we’ve hit bottom and I think the only way to go is up,” MSU head coach Rick Comley said. “Right now I just want to win Friday night and try to build something positive and put a smile on these kids’ face and let them believe that they are still capable of making some good things happen.”

The Spartans have been on the road for 13 of their last 16 games, with 11 of the 16 against ranked teams.

Comley said he doesn’t think the schedule could be any tougher for a young, beat-up team.

“It’s as bad a schedule as you could have,” Comley said.

MSU will host five home games in the month of February, and Comley is looking for the home crowd to help motivate his team to snap its current five-game losing streak.

“Our crowds have been really good when we are home,” Comley said. “Despite all of this, I think, for the most part, they are core hockey fans and they believe in the program.”

Comley expects Ferris State to give the Spartans all they can handle this weekend. He said the Bulldogs look at series as “one of the biggest on their schedule.”

“They were a team that was picked to do very well,” Comley said. “I think they have been a little up and down, but it looks like they have good balance. They always are a good team and they always play pretty well.”

MSU owns a 64-25-14 all-time record against the Bulldogs and the Spartans have won four of the last five meetings between the two teams.

But the Bulldogs are sitting in seventh place in the CCHA, nine points ahead of the last-place Spartans.

Freshman defenseman Tim Buttery recognizes how important this weekend series will be if the Spartans are going to climb the standings to eighth place, where they would have home ice in the first round of the playoffs.

“It’s tough when you aren’t winning as much as you’d like and not scoring as much as you’d like,” Buttery said.

Lerg is convinced his team can still make a late push in the final month of the season.

“We are still in it,” Lerg said.

“By no means are we going to quit in this last month. I’m still confident we can make some noise the rest of the year.”