Huskies shutout Alaska Anchorage Friday

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• Game Highlights
• Coach Shawhan Interview

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Michigan Tech hockey team blanked Alaska Anchorage 3-0 Friday (Jan. 25) at Sullivan Arena. The Huskies got a pair of goals from Brian Halonen and Matt Jurusik made 18 saves for his first shutout in the Black and Gold.

"They're a team that works very hard. They may not have great skill throughout their lineup but they make up for it with how hard they play," Tech coach Joe Shawhan said. "Our penalty kill and goaltending were the difference tonight, and a couple of freshmen in Halonen and Broetzman had big games."

Like last Friday night, Halonen opened the game's scoring early, finding the back of the net 1:28 after puck drop. Gavin Gould had a pass in the crease that deflected into the air. Halonen gloved it down and backhanded in his seventh of the season. Alec Broetzman also assisted for the first of two helpers on the night.

Jake Jackson added to the lead with 22 seconds left in the second period when his sharp-angled shot deflected off a defenseman and into the back of the net on the power play. Jackson's second of the season was assisted by Broetzman and Seamus Donohue.

Halonen added an insurance goal with 3:38 left in the third as he caught a pass from Jake Lucchini when he stepped out of the penalty box and finished off a breakaway. Lucchini recorded his 100th career point with the assist. He has 41 goals and 59 assists in 153 games. Todd Kiilunen added the secondary assist for his first helper of the season.

Jurusik made three saves in the first period, seven in the second, and eight in the third. He was the beneficiary of three shots that drew iron behind him—one in each period.

"Jurusik did a tremendous job in net tonight," added Shawhan. "He bailed us out. We knew it was going to be a grind game for us, and he stepped up."

Penalties piled up in the third period with seven called between the two teams. Tech's penalty-killing unit was strong going 6-for-6 on the night, including killing off a 5:00 major in the second and over a half a minute of 5-on-3 in the third.

Kris Carlson stopped 22 shots for the home team. He had a big save on Gavin Gould 1:00 into the second period after a drop pass by Lucchini in front of the net. Broetzman had a breakaway later in the second that was blocked away, and Lucchini had a great chance on the power play in the third that was gloved down.

Tech is now 12-13-2 overall and 11-7-1-1 in the WCHA, snapping a three-game losing streak. UAA falls to 2-22-1 overall and 1-17-1-0 in the WCHA.

Friday's game ended a five-game streak where the two teams went to overtime. Gavin Gould played in his 100th game in a Tech uniform on Friday. He joins Jake Lucchini (153), Dylan Steman (143), Alex Smith (107), and Jake Jackson (105) who previously hit the century mark.

The two teams will play three more times this season, starting Saturday at 11:07 p.m. Eastern.