Overtime Goal By Pietila Lifts Huskies Friday
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Alaska (12-12-1,7-11-1) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
|
Michigan Tech (17-7-1,12-4-1) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
HOUGHTON, Mich. – Senior captain Blake Pietila scored 2:46 into overtime to lift No. 10 Michigan Tech to a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over Alaska on Friday (Jan. 23) night from the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena. Down 3-1, the Huskies rallied, scoring the game's final three goals to improve to 17-7-1 overall and 12-4-1 in the WCHA.
The two teams were knotted at one after the first two periods. Tyler Morley and Nolan Youngman each scored to give the Nanooks a 3-1 lead after the first 7:30 of the third.
Alaska (12-12-1, 7-11-1) then took a pair of penalties. On the first power play, Shane Hanna and Cliff Watson both had long shots get through to the netminder, while Joel L'Esperance and Patrick Anderson had chances near the crease.
In the second of the back-to-back power plays, Tanner Kero dug the puck out of the corner and fed it to a wide-open Alex Petan out front. Petan gathered the puck and fired it past goaltender Davis Jones at the 13:04 mark to make it 3-2. Pietila added the secondary assist.
"The character of this team continues to show," Tech coach Mel Pearson said. "We played flat and dug ourselves a hole. There wasn't much going on for us in the third period, but we got a power play and took advantage. That goal sparked us."
Only 39 seconds later, L'Esperance scored his second goal of the game to tie it at three. He stole the puck behind the UAF net, carried it out front and wristed a shot just inside the far post. The unassisted tally was his third career goal.
"I felt confident with the puck today," L'Esperance said. "I had some good touches early in the game and got more and more confident and made some good plays."
The Huskies had to kill off a penalty late in regulation and held off a barrage of shots early in overtime, not allowing any of them to get through to goaltender Jamie Phillips.
Almost to the midway point of overtime, L'Esperance battled for the puck in the corner and chipped it over to Malcolm Gould. Gould found Pietila for a quick one-timer to the right of Jones for the game winner. It was Pietila's third goal in the last two games and the first overtime winner for the Huskies this season.
"Joel and Malcolm went in there and out-worked their guys," Pietila said. "Malcolm made a superb play and got it out to me. I could feel guys around me and knew that I needed to get a shot off quickly."
Tech outshot Alaska 31-28 in the game. Phillips stopped 25 shots for the Huskies, including 11 in the second period. Late in the second he made a highlight reel glove save, robbing Tyler Morley of a goal.
CJ Eick had a chance to give the Huskies the lead late in the first period as he split a pair of Alaska defensemen and went in alone on Jones. Eick tried to slip it 5-hole but Jones was there to make the save. Jones finished with 27 saves in the game.
L'Esperance opened the game's scoring after a beautiful setup by Anderson. Blake Hietala fed the puck up to Anderson who waited for L'Esperance for the backdoor pass. For Anderson, it was the second game in a row he tallied a point.
"Joel's been playing well for a while," added Pearson. "He just wasn't getting puck luck. He's working much harder lately.
"He's a player that's just scratching the surface, and we're going to need him down the stretch this season."
Garrick Perry made it 1-1 8:47 into the second with a power play tally.
Both teams took six minor penalties in the game. Tech was 1-for-4 on the man advantage while Alaska was 2-for-4.
The two teams wrap-up the WCHA series on Saturday (Jan. 24) night at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m.
GAME NOTES: It is the only meeting of the season between the two teams…The last time Tech defeated UAF at home was Nov. 10, 1990…Tech is in second place in the WCHA and gained two more points on Bowling Green in the standings after the Falcons fell to Lake Superior State…Pietila now has 46 career goals…Petan has 37 career goals.
