NEW ULM — Despite the Steel dropping two games to the Minnesota Loons this past weekend, New Ulm coach Alex North said that he was happy with the resilience of his team in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Loons on Friday.

“But Saturday we took off one period (the second period when the Loons notched four goals in a a 7-1 rout),” North said. “And I challenged them to not allow any more goals against and they did not. So there are some positives to find, but ultimately not getting 4 points is disappointing.”

North said that the four goals that the Loons scored in that second period were almost a mirror image of what happened the previous Saturday in a home 5-3 loss to St. Louis: defensive zone breakdowns.

“We are still not where I think that we need to be in front of our own net and communication-wise,” he said. “So we are going to have to watch a lot of film and not only of ourselves, but also of other teams that do it and how I would like it done. I think that watching how other teams do it may make it sink in better. And I will be looking at some new drills. But puck-watching happened again in our (defensive) zone.”

But North said that the Steel (3-5-0-1 in the West Division) is still taking steps forward.

“We are going to change some (defensive) pairings and there will be some other line changing, too, to try and get some new life and new looks.”

He thought that the Steel did compete well in the two road losses.

“When you go back and watch the films, there were some things that were pretty positive,” North said. “We had five or six guys who really stepped up and competed that did not get the credit statistically that they deserved.”

North also thinks that the word is getting around that the Steel organization is one where players are going to want to come and play for.

“Players talk to each other and they know that this is a place where the players will be taken care of,” he said. “I allow them the freedom on the ice to where they can display their talent, and there are some places around the league that don’t allow them to do that very much very much and that is getting around.”

This weekend the Steel play a home-and-away series on Friday and Saturday with Willmar.

The Steel host Willmar (1-5) on Friday night at 7:10 p.m. at the New Ulm Civic Center before heading to Willmar on Saturday night.

The Steel then cap off a busy weekend Sunday afternoon when they host unbeaten Granite City (8-0) at 3 p.m. at the New Ulm Civic Center.

Friday night is “209 Pub Night” with $25 gift certificates being drawn for.

Sunday is “Skate with the Steel” after the game.