[
Box Score]
FAIRBANKS, AK - Sophomore goalie
Scott Greenham (Addison, ON) turned in his second first star performance of the weekend making 42 saves and five of his teammates lit the lamp to help the No. 20 Alaska Nanooks to a 5-1 victory over the Lake Superior State Lakers Saturday night at the Carlson Center.
Freshman
Andy Taranto (Woodridge, IL) notched an unassisted short-handed goal and a pair of helpers, while senior
Brandon Knelsen had a goal and an assist and six other skaters checked in on the scoresheet with one point in the triumph.
The Lakers came out with a charge and tested Greenham early and often as they fired 16 shots on net in the opening period and attempted 27 shots total. Fortunately for Alaska, Greenham was up to the challenge and turned away all 16 shots, and had some help as his teammates blocked seven shot attempts to keep the visitors scoreless.
A Laker's penalty to Pat Aubry at the 9:14 mark gave the Nanooks their first power-play opportunity of the game and they made the most of it getting on the scoreboard first at 10:43. After the Lakers were able to clear the zone the Nanooks set up and sophomore defenseman Scott Enders (Edmonton, AB) found rookie Jarret Granberg (Foremost, Alberta) in the slot where he beat LSSU's netminder Pat Inglis for the 1-0 lead.
The Lakers got a chance to tie the contest early in the second stanza, when back-to-back Alaska penalties gave them a 5-on-3 power play for over a minute. The Nanooks defense stood tall and didn't allow a single shot as they killed of 5-on-3 and 5-4 chances.
Greenham also came up big minutes later when he stoned the Lakers' John Scrymgeour on a breakaway with a beautiful glove save. However, minutes later the Lakers found their answer and first marker of the weekend, when Will Acton tipped one past Greenham from Ben Power and Dillin Stonehouse.
Acton's goal was the first allowed by Greenham in a span of 114:06 through three different games.
Alaska doubled-up when they cashed in on their own 5-on-3 power play at 17:35. Junior Dustin Sather (Wanham, AB) threw a pass in front of the net that deflected off Lakers defensemen Steven Kaunisto and through the legs of Inglis for the eventual game winner. Taranto and sophomore defenseman Aaron Gens (Baudette, MN) earned helpers on Sather's goal, his third of the weekend.
The Nanooks gave the Lakers no opportunities to mount a comeback in the final frame as they buried three more goals before the game clock expired, starting with a short-handed tally by Taranto at the 7:24 mark to make it 3-1 in favor of the hosts.
Senior center Dion Knelsen (Three Hills, AB) all but put the game away with an empty-net goal at the 18:11 mark, assisted by Taranto and Gens, for his 17th goal of the season. Only 23 seconds later his older brother Brandon took a feed from Kevin Petovello (Sparwood, BC) down the right wing and tickled the twine for his first goal of the season and second point of the game. Greenham was on top of his game, turning aside all 11 of the Lakers' third-period shots to seal the deal and complete the sweep.
For the Blue and Gold it marked their first series sweep since the opening weekend of Central Collegiate Hockey Association play (Oct. 30-31), when they took a pair of contests from the Ferris State Bulldogs by 3-1 and 3-2 (OT) margins.
The win also helped the Blue and Gold grab sole possession of fourth place in the conference standings, which means they can finish no worse than sixth place in the 12-team league. While the Nanooks are guaranteed to host a CCHA Playoff series they won't know which weekend they will host until after next weekend as the rest of the league closes out their schedules.
It is still possible for the Blue and Gold to finish fourth overall and earn a first-round bye for the second straight year, but it will require the help of some conference opponents as Lake Superior State must take at least four points from Northern Michigan and Notre Dame must get at least two out of Michigan in their encounters next weekend.
With their 14 win of the year and 10 in conference action, the Nanooks extended their CCHA unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2), their longest such streak at the end of regular-season league play since the 2002-03 season when they finished 4-0-3.
Alaska will look to extend its unbeaten streak in next weekend's home-and home series with arch-rival Alaska Anchorage. The teams meet Friday at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage for the first game of the 2010 Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup series and face off at the Carlson Center the following night in Fairbanks to crown the Cup's champion. The Nanooks are looking to recapture the Governor's Cup, which has been taken by the Seawolves in each of the last four seasons. The all-time series is tied 8-8 and Alaska boasts the longest stretch as the Cup's champion having won it five years in a row from 2000-05, before UAA took the last four.
