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Box Score]
ANCHORAGE, AK — The Alaska Nanooks didn't panic after they trailed the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves 2-0 in the first period of Friday night's opener of the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup Series in Sullivan Arena.
Their composure helped the Nanooks rally to a 7-4 victory and move a win or tie closer to releasing the Seawolves' three-year grip on the Cup that signifies the college hockey rivalry in the 49th state.
The Nanooks, while improving to 15-9-9 overall and raising their unbeaten streak to seven games (5-0-2), got a hat trick from freshman right wing
Andy Taranto, four assists from senior center
Dion Knelsen and 23 saves from sophomore goaltender
Scott Greenham.
It was Taranto's second three-goal night this month, following a similar accomplishment in a 4-1 win at Ohio State on Feb. 12.
“It's great but the biggest thing is the win,” Taranto said. “We want to come out fired up tomorrow for our home crowd.”
The Nanooks will try to capture the Cup for the first time since the 2005-06 season when the second game of the series starts at 7:05 tonight at the Carlson Center.
Knelsen, who shares the goal-scoring lead with Taranto at 16 apiece, recorded his second four-assist night in three games as he helped out four times in last Friday's 4-0 shutout of Lake Superior State in the opener of the Alaska's last regular-season Central Collegiate Hockey Association series.
“I'm on a line with two other guys who are so good at supporting the puck,” Knelsen said of Taranto and junior left wing
Dustin Sather, who had a goal and two assists Friday. “They're always available for a pass, and they get to the open areas of the ice and they bury (the puck).”
Friday's win also buried a 10-game winless skid (0-8-2) for Alaska against UAA, now 10-19-2 overall. The Seawolves shut out the Nanooks 1-0 in Anchorage and 3-0 in Fairbanks in last year's series.
Last season's losses were a reason that Nanooks head coach
Dallas Ferguson saw Alaska's first goal Friday as a big one.
“I told the guys that they have two goals and then all of a sudden we have one,” he said. “I just told them to believe than when goals come, they usually come in bunches.”
The Seawoves of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association led 2-0 on power-play goals one minute apart in the first period — respective deposits by left wings Josh Lunden and Tommy Grant at 9:39 and 10:39.
Taranto provided Alaska's first goal and his 14th of the season from in front of the crease at 11:57, pushing
Dion Knelsen's rebound past the stick side of Seawolves goaltender Bryce Christianson, who finished with 12 saves in his first start since Dec. 6.
The Nanooks produced the tying and go-ahead goals on 2-on-1 rushes in less than 1 1/2 minutes.
Chad Gehon crossed to
Ron Meyers at the right edge of the crease, and the sophomore right wing flipped the tying tally past Christianson's glove hand at 15:07. Right wing
Brandon Knelsen zipped the go-ahead pass at 16:32 and the puck skipped off center
Derek Klassen's left skate and between Christianson's pads.
Though it was outshot 10-4, Alaska padded its lead to 5-3 in the second period, starting with
Brandon Knelsen scoring on a penalty shot after he was hooked by UAA defenseman Luka Vidmar in front of the crease at 5:57.
Knelsen, with only his second goal of the season, lifted a backhand that deflected in off of the shaft of Christianson's stick.
The Seawolves' responded with the first of right wing Kevin Clark's two goals Friday, a scorching wrist shot from the left circle that beat Greenham over his stick-side shoulder at 8:02.
The Nanooks, at 12:01, cashed in on their fifth power play. Sather rushed to the right edge of the crease to tap in
Dion Knelsen's centering pass at 12:01 for the two-goal edge.
The Nanooks spent the first four minutes of the third period skating shorthanded because Taranto collected a tripping minor with 15 seconds left in the third and defenseman
Joe Sova was whistled for interference at 1:17 of the third.
Clark shortened the lead of the shorthanded Nanooks to 5-4 at 48 seconds into the third, taking Vidmar's blast from the top of the slot and redirecting it in from the left edge of the crease.
The Nanooks tightened their defense, clogging the neutral zone and chipping pucks off the glass, and it led them to stretch their lead for the most goals they've scored in a game since an 8-4 home win against Air Force on Oct. 16, 2006.
“We didn't panic when they came within one goal,”
Dion Knelsen said. “We had to be solid defensively.”
Taranto scored twice in 12 seconds to ensure the win.
Knelsen pulled away from Seawolves defenseman Brad Gorham in the right corner and quickly fed to Sather, who centered to Taranto for a low wrist shot at 15:02. Knelsen set up Taranto for his hat trick, as the freshman sent a shot from the slot that clanged in off the crossbar.
