Feb. 22, 2008
Box Score
By Danny Martin
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Published Saturday, February 23, 2008
SAULT STE. MARIE, MI -- Rick Schofield and the rest of the Lake Superior State Lakers already knew their playoff fate before Friday night's game against the Alaska Nanooks.
The 11th-place Lakers were going to be on the road when the Central Collegiate Hockey Association postseason opens March 7.
Schofield sealed Alaska's postseason fate, as the freshman center scored the game-winner in a 2-1 overtime victory for the Lakers in the Clarence "Taffy" Abel Arena.
The loss by ninth-place Alaska overshadowed a 39-save performance by senior goaltender Wylie Rogers, and the Nanooks (8-15-4 CCHA, 8-18-5 overall) failed to build on a 1-0 lead in the second period, courtesy of freshman left wing Ryan Hohl scoring his first collegiate goal in a return to his home state.
Entering their final weekend of the regular season, the Nanooks had an outside chance of securing a first-round playoff series at the Carlson Center for the first time since 2004. Alaska needed to defeat Lake Superior (5-15-5, 7-18-6) on Friday and in tonight's finale and have eighth-place Northern Michigan lose its remaining four games.
The Nanooks lost that outside chance for home ice and will instead be Outside for the first round of the playoffs for the fourth straight year. Northern Michigan sealed Alaska's fate, too, because it downed Nebraska-Omaha 6-4 on Friday in Marquette, Mich.
"We just want to set the tone for the playoffs. We've figured out that we're probaby playing on the road," Hohl said. "We've got to be a good road team if we want to be successful for the rest of the season."
What has been a common theme this season for the Nanooks -- getting quality opportunities to score, but not capitalizing on them -- followed them to Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Alaska generated only one goal for the third straight game and it was outshot 41-26. The Nanooks also missed on two power plays, making them 1-for-24 with the man-advantage in their last six games.
"It's tough to try to win games 1-0,'' said Alaska head coach Doc DelCastillo. "When we get the opportunities, guys have to figure out at this time of the season that when you get a 2-on-1 a minute left in the game, you've got to bury it because it's pretty tough to expect Wylie or our defensive players to say let's go win a game 1-0."
One of the Nanooks' best chances to win the game, and snap a 1-1 tie, occurred with 1:12 left in the third period. Center Dion Knelsen picked up a puck that got stuck in the skate of Lakers defenseman Steve Kaunisto. Knelsen made a cross-ice pass to streaking right wing Landon Novotney, whose wrist shot from the right circle was clutched by Lake Superior goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson.
"The last three games we played pretty good, and we could have won all three games," DelCastillo said, "but our offensive production isn't just where it needs to be to win hockey games. We're getting opportunities but we're just not burying the puck.''
Rogers saw 41 shots for the second straight game and Friday's contest marked the sixth time this season he's encountered 40 or more shots during a night between the pipes.
"The guys were giving me a pretty good chance to see shots,'' Rogers said. "They got a couple of lucky bounces and I got a couple more lucky bounces on rebounds that they didn't have.''
Rogers had turned away 34 straight shots before Lakers freshman left wing Will Acton sent a backhand over his glove-side elbow on a power play at 14:36 of the third, tying the game at 1.
"He's very aggressive, I think. He's very good on rebounds and he always has at least four or five guys in front of him," Schofield said of Rogers' shutout streak that included denying the Lakers' first four power plays.
"You not only have to beat one tender, you have to beat the whole team,'' said Schofield. "I think they played very defensively, which is very hard to play against. I'll give Wylie all the credit -- he's a very good goaltender, and we just had to get by him.''
Schofield did so at 2:42 of overtime.
He skated into the Alaska zone and fired the puck high off the glass, and the carom went into the left corner, where Zac MacVoy collected it. The Lakers right wing skated around a screen set by left wing Dan Eaves and centered the puck to Schofield, who one-timed a wrist shot low by Rogers' glove side.
"It was good pass, he one-timed it and it went through one of our guys' legs,'' Rogers said. "He just got a lot on it and it was good shot on the inside of the post.''
Schofield said MacVoy collecting the puck bought some time for him to get open in the slot.
"I just jumped into a hole and let it go,'' Schofield said.
Hohl was on the go for the game's first goal at 8 minutes of the second.
Rogers denied a wide wrap-around backhand by Lakers right wing Josh Sim and Nanooks center Derek Klassen retrived the rebound and fed up to Hohl, who relayed it to Ryan Muspratt at the right point.
The Nanooks senior right wing chipped the puck ahead of Lakers defenseman Matt Cowie in the neutral zone to launch a shot from the right circle. Mahoney-Wilson denied the attempt. But Hohl swooped in through the slot to tap in the rebound.
"Me and Klass both went to the net and the rebound came out,'' said Hohl, "and I just put it home.''
His first goal, though, was dampened by his interference penalty at 13:08 of the third that led to Acton's game-tying power-play marker.
"That's unacceptable, that just can't happen,'' Hohl said. "I'll be thinking about that tonight and it won't happen again.''
The same, unfortunately, can't be said for the Nanooks opening the playoffs on the road.
