Carrying the nation’s longest winning streak into Saturday night’s contest, the No. 9 Michigan Tech Huskies extended that streak to eight games with a 3-1 win over the visiting Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves.
After surrendering 46 shots Friday night, coach Matt Thomas was pleased to have his Seawolves only give up 27 tonight.
“I think [in] the second and third period, we matched their pace,” said Thomas. “I think we are a team that can play that way. We didn’t do it on Friday, but I was happy with the way we worked and the way we played [tonight].”
The visitors got off to a quicker start than they had on Friday. Defenseman Derek Docken fired the game’s first shot on Huskies netminder Jamie Phillips less than 30 seconds into action.
The Huskies struck first when defenseman Shane Hanna was set up at the left point. He fired a low shot that deflected off a Seawolves defender on its way past Michael Matyas 3:08 into the game. Co-captain Blake Pietila and winger Reid Sturos both assisted on the goal.
Despite the great start, the Huskies got away from the things that made them an effective hockey team for most of the rest of the night.
“I thought we got away from [the game plan] for whatever reason,” said Huskies coach Mel Pearson. “We started to do some things that we typically don’t. We tried to make too many plays in the danger zones. Overall, I am really happy. There was a lot going on this last two weeks.”
Chris Leibinger was given a five-minute major for contact to the head of a Seawolves forward. On the ensuing power play, co-captain Scott Allen had a great chance in close to Phillips, but the sprawled goalie was there with a leg pad to make the stop.
“I felt our penalty killers were our big boys tonight,” said Huskies assistant captain Alex Petan. “It is tough to see five minutes to kill, but our penalty killers were probably our best players tonight and we counted on them. They deserve a lot of recognition.”
After sitting two minutes for hooking, Seawolves co-captain Scott Allen got the puck as he came out of the box. He cut to the net, but was his shot was stopped. Phillips finished the night with 26 saves.
With Docken already off for hooking, the Seawolves (4-4-2 overall, 1-3-0 WCHA) went down two men when winger Dylan Hubbs took a five-minute major for checking from behind. The Huskies extended their lead on the advantage.
After winger David Johnstone broke his stick on an attempted shot, Malcolm Gould replaced him on the ice. Gould fed the puck to Petan at the right point, and Petan fired a shot that eluded Matyas at 14:46.
On their second five-minute power play of the night, the Seawolves finally solved Phillips when defenseman Jarrett Brown fired a shot from the right point past him 1:39 into the third. Winger Blake Tatchell and winger Anthony Conti assisted on the goal.
Johnstone got loose and fired a long shot that Matyas snatched up six minutes into the period. Matyas finished the night with 24 saves.
Nine and a half minutes in, Allen stripped Huskies defenseman Riley Sweeney of the puck and skated in alone. His backhand sailed over the net.
Allen had another good chance four minutes later off a drop pass, but again Phillips was there to make the stop.
Thomas pulled Matyas with 1:18 left in regulation, but the move backfired when Huskies winger Tyler Heinonen stole the puck near the Seawolves bench and fired it into the gaping net with 29.8 seconds left. The goal was Heinonen’s third in three games.
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