Hockey Huskies Drop Alaska 4-1 in Series Opener
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Michigan Tech (8-4-1, 7-4-0) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
|
Alaska (4-7-2, 2-5-2) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Alex Petan, Tyler Heinonen, Malcolm Gould and Joel L'Esperance all scored goals as the No. 19-ranked Michigan Tech hockey team skated to a 4-1 win over Alaska tonight (Nov. 27) in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest at the Carlson Center.
The victory ups Tech's record to 7-2-1 over its last 10 games. The Huskies are 5-1-1 in November with four wins coming on the road.
"We got an important two points on the road," said Tech head coach Mel Pearson. "We had several guys who played well and overall it was a really good performance. Obviously we limited them to just 14 shots on goal and created some good chances offensively. We need to clean some things up but we're happy to get two huge league points."
Petan put the Huskies on the board 6:44 in a great individual play. After grabbing a loose puck just inside the offensive blue line, Petan dangled through an Alaska defensemen, worked the puck to his backhand and beat UAF goaltender Jesse Jenks just inside the right post.
Tech controlled play for long stretches in the first two periods and Heinonen finally managed to double the Michigan Tech lead with a power-play goal 12:39 into the middle frame. A shot by Petan from the slot bounced off the glass and right in front to Reid Sturos, who batted away but couldn't knock it over the line. After Jenks shoveled the puck to his left, Heinonen swooped in and sent it into the top corner of the net.
Gould extended Tech's lead to 3-0 8:53 into the third when he took a long pass from Matt Roy, skated in all alone and fired a wrister into the top corner.
The Nanooks scored on the power play midway through the frame but Tech limited chances late and L'Esperance buried into an empty net to close out the 4-1 triumph.
The Huskies outshot Alaska 34-15 on the night, including 11-3 and 16-5 in the first and second periods, respectively. Goaltender Jamie Phillips started and made 14 saves in the winning effort.
Michigan Tech (8-4-1 overall; 7-4-0 WCHA) finishes its two-game WCHA series in Alaska tomorrow (Nov. 28) at 11:07 p.m. ET.