Huskies Roll to 6-2 Win in Series Finale at Lake State
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Michigan Tech (10-6-2, 9-6-1 WCHA) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
|
Lake Superior State (6-10-4, 4-4-4 WCHA) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
HIGHLIGHTS | PEARSON POST GAME | PETAN POST GAME
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – Alex Petan and Joel L'Esperance scored twice and 11 Michigan Tech players earned at least one point as the Huskies rolled to a 6-2 victory over Lake Superior State in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association matchup tonight (Dec. 12) at the Taffy Abel Arena.
Tech's road unbeaten streak now sits at eight games (6-0-2), a run on which the Huskies have scored four goals or more on five occasions.
The Huskies scored four times in the opening 7:01 of the contest and carried a 4-0 lead into the first intermission. L'Esperance put Tech on the board just 1:12 into the game when he flew to the front of the net and redirected a Tyler Heinonen centering pass through Lake State goaltender Gordon Gefiel.
Petan made it 3-0 with two power-play goals in a two-minute span on nearly identical plays. His first goal came when he settled the puck at the blue line and sent a shot through traffic and under Gefiel's arm. Then, on his second marker, Petan took a pass from Shane Hanna, moved to his left and fired one home from the right point.
Freshman forward Jake Lucchini made it 4-0 at 7:01 when he parked at the edge of the crease and tipped a Jimmy Davis shot off the water bottle.
The teams traded goals in the second period before the Huskies skated into the intermission with a 6-2 advantage.
The Lakers made it 4-1 2:09 into the middle frame, but Mark Auk quickly answered to put Tech up 5-1. After a quick zone entry, the Huskies went tic-tac-toe and the puck ended up on Auk's stick in front. The defenseman grabbed it, moved to his backhand to get the Lake State goalie to bite and then buried into the wide-open net.
Following another Lake State goal, L'Esperance notched a highlight reel goal at 15:32. With the puck moving through center, Heinonen chipped it to L'Esperance for a mini-breakaway. L'Esperance was pulled down from behind by a Lake State defender as he tried to protect the puck but managed to knock it past Nick Kossoff with a one-handed try from the right circle.
Petan finished with a season-high three points (2-1) and extended his point streak to six games. L'Esperance (2-0), Hanna (0-2), Heinonen (0-2) and CJ Eick (0-2) all had multi-point efforts, and senior netminder Jamie Phillips started in net and made 35 stops in the win.
Michigan Tech (10-6-2 overall; 9-6-1 WCHA) is off until it meets Michigan State in the semifinals of the 51st annual Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit on Dec. 29. Tickets for the GLI, along with information on Tech alumni events, can be found at MichiganTechHuskies.com.
NOTES: Lake Superior State outshot Tech 37-20 … The Huskies were 2-3 on the power play while limiting the Lakers to no goals on five tries with the man-advantage … Tech's four-goal first marked its highest goal total in a single period since scoring five in the third period at Alaska Anchorage on Feb. 14, 2015 … Tech is now 8-2-0 when leading after two periods and 8-3-0 when scoring on the power play … Alex Petan's first goal was the 50th of his Michigan Tech career … Jimmy Davis now has points in three straight games, the longest point-streak of his career.