[Box Score]
FAIRBANKS, AK - For the second time in as many nights, the No. 12 Alaska Nanooks and the Northern Michigan Widlcats battle hard for 65 minutes but ultimately relied on a shootout to determine who would take the extra point. It was a similar story as the night before as the Nanooks and Wildcats tied 4-4, but the home team prevailed 2-1 in the shootout to earn four points on the weekend.
Led by three assists from sophomore defenseman Aaron Gens and a goal and an assist for rookie winger Andy Taranto, the Blue and Gold's two-point night moved them to 8-3-3 overall and 5-3-2-2 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings: good for sole possession of third place. NMU got one point in the contest bringing their season totals to 5-5-4 overall and 4-3-3-0 in the league rankings.
The first 20 minutes of play went back and forth as the teams combined for five markers in the first period alone.
The Blue and Gold were the first to strike when a screened Taranto shot from the high slot caught NMU's goaltender, Brian Stewart, off guard and ricocheted off his glove across the goal line.
The crowd of 3,243 fans were soon back on their feet just over a minute later, after sophomore defenseman Joe Sova's shot deflected off of Stewart's goal pad onto the stick of rookie Jarret Granberg, who chipped it into the net to give the Nanooks a 2-0 advantage.
The Wildcats maintained their composure and it paid off minutes later as they cut the Nanooks lead in half at 16:56, when Greger Hanson snapped the puck above Scott Greenham's right shoulder into the corner of the net to make it 2-1.
Nanook sophomore forward Carlo Finucci gave his team back its two-goal buffer at 18:02 as he flicked the puck into the visitor's goal, while streaking past the right side of the net and getting help from Taranto and Gens.
NMU continued to keep things interesting as Mark Olver scored a power-play tally with .06 seconds left on the clock. Despite the last second let down, Alaska still clutched the lead as they skated into the locker room, 3-2.
Coming back from the break, Alaska wasted little time re-establishing their advantage and made it 4-2 at 1:33 of the middle frame with help from their special teams. With NMU's Ray Kaunisto serving a tripping penalty, junior left wing Dustin Sather redirected a smart pass from Gens into the back of the Wildcats net to make good on the man-advantage chance. Following the goal, NMU opted to relieve Stewart with Reid Ellingson, who would go on to stop all five shots faced through the rest of the period.
Facing a two-goal deficit for the third time in the contest, NMU remained patient and eventually managed to chip away at the lead and knot the score at 4-4. The Wildcats power-play unit went to work when Alaska's Ryan Hohl was whistled for tripping at 9:46. NMU needed just 62 seconds to turn on the red light, getting their third goal of the night from Jared Brown.
Alaska got a prime opportunity to widen the gap come and go, as they were unable to convert during 63 seconds of a 5-on-3 power-play chance. The pair of successful kills swung the momentum in the visitors favor and saw Tyler Gron cash in on the equalizing goal at 16:33.
Neither team was unable to break the deadlock as the final seconds of regulation ticked off the clock and the teams headed to overtime for the second straight night.
During the extra session the Blue and Gold got a prime opportunity to end the game as NMU's Justin Florek took a hooking penalty. It looked as though the Nanooks would net their third overtime win of the season when Granberg intercepted a Wildcat pass and looked to score. Unfortunately his stick broke before he could fire the potential game-winner and he instead had to retreat to the bench for a new piece of hardware. The 'Cats returned to full strength but neither team could muster a fifth goal to seal a victory and the deciding shootout ensued.
It took seven rounds to decide the winners, but in the end the home team prevailed 2-1 just as they had in the previous encounter.
Each of the teams' first three shooters were denied by the respective goalies and the fourth round contestants each fired shots wide of the goal. Round five saw NMU's Erik Gustafsson beat Greenham and Alaska's Funucci respond on the other end to even the score 1-1. Jared Brown and
Dustin Sather were unable to convert on their chances in the sixth round but the next pairing would end the back-and-forth drama. NMU's Phil Fox was stuffed by Greenham setting up an exciting finale for the Nanooks, whose senior forward
Brandon Knelsen pulled Ellingson out of position and then backhanded the puck over him for the win.
The Nanooks continue CCHA play on the road in Kalamazoo, MI, where they will face the Western Michigan Broncos for a two-game series next weekend (Dec. 4-5). Both games are set to start at 3:35 p.m. AKT. Links for all live coverage can be found in the Multi Media section of alaskananooks.com
