NEW ULM — If the New Ulm Steel are to make the playoffs this year in the West Division of the NA3HL, they need to win their final regular season home game Friday night against Granite City and a road contest at Willmar Saturday.

And they need a little help from their friends.

They also need Alexandria to lose both of their games against Willmar and Granite City on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Currently, Alexandria is 2 points ahead of New Ulm for the fourth and final playoff spot.

Steel coach Andrew Kolb said that the plan is plain and simple. “We need to take it day by day,” he said Monday before practice. “We need to go out there and control what we can control and that is ourselves. Maybe we get some help from other teams and we will see what happens. We have to win both of our games and they have to lose both of theirs, otherwise our season is over.”

Kolb said that after the Steel’s 7-3 road loss to North Iowa on Saturday, his team was pretty let down.

“We knew what was at stake in the upcoming games,” he said. “It is frustrating — it is not fun — because we wanted to extend our season as much as we can.

“We have to get back to work this week and prepare for two games.”

Being the final regular season home game, it is “S&S Motors Night” at the New Ulm Civic Center. Fans will have a chance to win a car.

You need to register to win a car by shooting a puck into the net. Game time is 7:10 p.m. Friday.