Jan. 11, 2008
Box Score
By Danny Martin
Staff Writer
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
BIG RAPIDS, MI -- Aaron Lee found the right time to end a 17-game scoring drought.
The Alaska senior left wing provided the game-winning goal on a 4-on-4 situation at 17:07 of the third period, lifting the Nanooks to a 4-3 victory over the Ferris State Bulldogs in the opener of their series in the Ewigleben Ice Arena.
Lee hadn't seen one of his shots go in the net since the season-opening game against Alaska Anchorage.
"It feels incredible, it feels great. It's about time," Lee said.
Lee experienced those feelings by collecting a centering pass from Nanooks left wing Nathan Lawrence and getting behind Ferris State defenseman Matt Case to tip the puck past goaltender Mitch O'Keefe at the left post.
Lawrence had taken defenseman Steve Vanoosten's breakout pass and skated through a check near the right point. He fought off a muscling, last-stand defense by center Justin Menke before passing to Lee.
"I saw a 2-on-2 rush and that there wasn't a whole lot of time (left) in the game," said Lee, "and I thought I'd jump up in the play and try to create something and go to the net -- and hopefully, he would throw it to the net."
Wylie Rogers withstood the Bulldogs throwing everything at him, as the senior goaltender registered a career-high 50 saves and notched an assist on Novotney's first goal to help the Nanooks win despite getting outshot 53-21.
O'Keefe and starting Ferris State goaltender Pat Nagle combined for 17 saves.
Rogers also survived five of six power plays, including a brief two-man advantage in the third period, and the Bulldogs pulling O'Keefe for an extra attacker with 54 seconds left.
"I thought Wylie Rogers played pretty well," said Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels. "I thought we had numerous other opportunities (after the tying goal by Bulldogs defenseman Zach Redmond) to score but weren't able to capitalize."
Freshman right wing Landon Novotney and sophomore center Dion Knelsen helped propel the Nanooks to a 5-8-2 league and 5-11-3 overall record for a seventh-place tie with Ferris State and Northern Michigan.
Novotney generated three points in the first period, including two goals on a 5-minute power play, and Knelsen contributed a goal and a helper for the Nanooks, who increased their unbeaten streak against Ferris State to 7-0-1 since Jan. 3, 2004.
The two points raised Knelsen's points streak to eight games.
This weekend's opener was intense and physical, with the squads combining for 18 penalties for 69 minutes, including three checking-from-behind majors.
"I just think both teams know how valuable these points are," said Lee, "and we're looking to climb up the standings and they're looking to hold their position in the standings."
Novotney gave Alaska a 2-0 lead before the game was three minutes old.
After Ferris State's Blair Riley was penalized for a checking-from-behind 57 seconds into the game, Novotney capitalized for the game's first goal at 1:13. He shot the puck through Alex Spezia's legs, but a Bulldogs defenseman blocked it. The deflected puck, though, stuck in the right circle and Novotney skated around Spezia to shoot if off the crossbar and in.
"The puck just sat there on a silver platter for me," said Novotney.
He lit the lamp again at 2:39 from in front of the crease off Dustin Sather's centering pass.
Ferris State (6-7-0, 9-9-1) got its first goal at 5:48, as Mike Fillinger, aided by Casey Haines' pass off the back boards, cut across the slot to flip the puck over Nanooks defenseman Brandon Gawryletz and Rogers.
Knelsen put the Nanooks ahead by two at 7:26, collecting defenseman Tyler Eckford's pass, and second assist of the game, from the left point and rushing past Spezia to poke it by Nagle at the right post.
The goal chased the freshman goaltender for O'Keefe, a junior.
Brendan Connelly cut Alaska's lead to 3-2 on a power play at 14:13, taking Redmond's pass from the left point and one-timing it in from the right circle.
More than 40 minutes of game time passed before another goal was scored.
With the two teams skating 4-on-4 thanks to checking-from-behind penalties 33 seconds apart, Campbell blocked a shot by Redmond from the top of the slot. The puck, though, came back to the Bulldogs freshman defenseman's stick and he tied the game 3-3 with a low line drive that kissed the inside of the left post and snuck by Rogers' glove hand with 4:46 remaining in regulation.
The game was then delayed for about 15 minutes to replace a sheet of fiberglass from behind the net that was knocked out by Bulldogs fans celebrating Redmond's goal.
The Nanooks may have benefited from the delay, while Daniels said his team did not.
The 16-year head coach pointed to two pivotal moments in the game -- the Nanooks scoring twice on the major in the first period and the glass coming out in the third period.
"We hadn't played a conference game at this tempo since Dec. 8, and I thought UAF hopped us pretty good," Daniels said of Alaska's 2-0 lead. "It took us a while to adjust to the speed of the game."
The Bulldogs didn't recover from the delay caused by the glass mishap.
"We were playing well and we had the jump up to that point," Daniels said. "I don't think we were able to pick up where we left off."
The Nanooks picked up two much-needed points in the standings.
"I'm proud of our guys because we found a way through great goaltending, blocking shots ..." said Alaska head coach Doc DelCastillo. "Whatever it was, we took advantage of the situations we had a hand in and found a way to get two points tonight."
