The rhythms of the season are a bit out of kilter this week with a rare heavy schedule of Monday games followed by a decidedly light Tuesday slate of games. 

No matter how the games are laid out, there's the usual array of matchups that jump off the page as ones to watch, and we had our usual difficulty narrowing them to five.

No. 14-2A Eden Prairie (12-7-0), powered by senior Jake Luloff (35 points), faces No. 3-1A Mahtomedi (9-9-1) and senior goaltender Ben Dardis, who ranks third in the state with a .933 save percentage on Wednesday. … No. 19-2A Chaska (13-5-0) takes what should be a step up in competition from its most recent Metro West foes on Wednesday when it faces Eastview (12-7-0) and standout goaltender Jay Svaren (2.51 goals-against average). … No. 1-2A Andover (16-3-1) and Blaine (11-5-3) have developed a sizzling rivalry in recent years, and the heat only figures to get turned up now that Blaine has been joined the Huskies in Section 7AA. … If No. 2-1A Warroad (16-3-1) doesn’t win Section 8A, as is expected, there’s a decent chance the title will go to Thief River Falls (10-9-0), which features a potential game-stealing duo in forward Brendan Bottem (22 goals) and goaltender Brett Holmer (.899 save percentage). …  Morris/Benson (10-9-1) has scored 35 goals in its last five games, winning four of them. One of those wins was a 6-5 overtime triumph over the Luverne (8-9-0) team the Storm meet again on Saturday. … No. 8-2A Wayzata (13-5-1) star goaltenderWill Ingemann, having already defeated Moorhead, Roseau and Warroad, takes on another high-powered northern squad in No. 11-2A  Grand Rapids (15-5-1) and 22-goal scorer Joey DelGreco on Saturday.