Feb. 9, 2007
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Alaska Nanooks entered Friday night's game tied for ninth place with Western Michigan and Northern Michigan in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings, looking to gain points and stay in contention to host a first round playoff series at home.
Alaska put in a strong performance outshooting Western 27-19, while getting 17 saves from junior goalie Wylie Rogers (Fairbanks, AK) and a power-play marker from freshman forward Brandon Knelsen (Three Hills, AB) but it wasn't enough as they fell 2-1 to the Broncos at Lawson Arena in front of 2,087 fans. The loss snapped the Nanooks four game unbeaten streak.
Both teams came out gunning in the first period but a Nanook penalty gave the Broncos the chance they needed to get on the scoreboard at 11:12. Rookie skater Jeff Lee (Calgary, AB) was whistled for hooking at 10:44 setting up the man-advantage for the Broncos. Brian Bicek fired the puck on Rogers, who made the initial save, but he was unable to cover up the rebound that Bicek pushed past him to give WMU the early advantage.
Just over a minute later Bicek assessed a tripping minor giving Alaska its second man-advantage of the game. Alaska, who's power-play unit was the second best overall in the CCHA coming into Friday's contest, made the most of the opportunity when they netted the equalizer at 13:57 of the first frame.
Junior defenseman Darcy Campbell (Airdrie, AB) slid a pass along the blueline to senior defenseman Nathan Fornataro (Calgary, AB) who fired a shot from the point. The Broncos' goalie Riley Gill turned the shot aside. The puck fell on the stick of freshman forward Brandon Knelsen (Three Hills, AB), who lifted it past him for his second goal of the season.
For Campbell it was his team-leading 20th assist, equaling junior forward Kyle Greentree's (Victoria, BC) season assist total from the 2004-05 season.
WMU went up on Alaska, 2-1, five and a half minutes into the second period on a Bicek's second goal of the night. He netted a rebound off a shot by Jeff Pierce to beat Rogers.
Alaska saw three man-advantage chances throughout the remainder of the second stanza but was unable to capitalize as Western Michigan killed all three power plays, including two in the final 20 minutes of play.
The Nanooks pulled Rogers with 1:46 remaining in favor of the extra attacker, but the Broncos stayed tough defensively and held on to earn the win.
Alaska out shot the Broncos, 27-19, and had six penalties for 12 minutes versus seven penalties worth 14 minutes for Western Michigan. Each team netted a power-play goal with the Nanooks going 1-for-7 and the Broncos capitalizing on 1-of-6 chances.
Knelsen was named the Perani Cup No. 3 star in the game after netting what was the game-tying goal for his first such honor of the season.
The loss dropped the Nanooks (9-14-6, 7-11-5 CCHA) into a tie for tenth place with Northern Michigan with 19 points. The Broncos improved to 13-15-1 overall and 10-12-1 in the CCHA and gives them lone possession of eighth place heading into Saturday's rematch.
The teams will play a second contest tomorrow afternoon at 12:35 p.m. AKST. The game will be televised live on KFXF Fox 7 as well as regionally on Fox Sports Net Detroit. It can be heard live on KSUA 91.5 FM and KYSC Kiss 96.9 FM as well as on the internet at http://ksua.uaf.edu, and the live stats can be viewed through Gametracker at www.alaskananooks.com.
