- It was a defensive match-up that left the visiting Alaska Nanooks at the short-end of the stick as they were shutout 2-0 at No. 6 Michigan Friday night at Yost Ice Arena. The 19th-ranked Nanooks (10-9-4, 7-8-4-2) fell to seventh in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings.
A pair of goals in the second and third periods by U-M's Lee Moffie and Jon Merrill coupled with a 36-save performance from Wolverine netminder Shawn Hunwick led to the Nanooks scoreless demise.
Shortly after the opening faceoff, U-M defenseman Mac Bennett turned the puck over at the blue line creating a 2-on-0 chance for the Blue and Gold. Senior captain Kevin Petovello had a prime opportunity, but he was unable to beat Hunwick and his shot sailed just wide of the cage.
In the second period, defenseman
Joe Sova got the second-best look for the visitors, when he made a timely exit from the penalty box and collected the puck to skate in uncontested on the Wolverine goalie. However, his move of choice did not fool Hunwick and he steered the Nanooks rearguard wide.
“We felt like had enough (scoring chances) to hopefully get enough looks at it,” said Alaska head coach
Dallas Ferguson of his team's offensive effort. “We thought we'd maybe put one past him, but give the kid (Hunwick) credit. He played hard. He's aggressive and he forces you to shoot into him. We've got to do a better job of getting traffic and, obviously, getting pucks in the net”
Shortly after Sova's big opportunity, U-M's Ben Winnett got a shorthanded breakaway but junior goalie Scott Greeham was up to the task just like his counterpart.Merrill completed the Michigan scoring at 8:40 of the third period with the teams playoing four on four. Greenham was completely screened on Merrill's blast from the blue line.
“Scottie played really well in the first period and that was really crucial,” Ferguson said. “He made some big saves and got us out of that (1st) period, 0–0, and then, a couple in the second period, too. He kept giving us a chance. We just couldn't put one in the back of the net.”
At 11:09 of the middle period, Michigan finally broke through offensively. Matt Rust and Carl Hagelin penetrated the Nanooks zone 2-on-1 and fed Moffie, who was trailing in the high slot where he fired the puck in the upper corner to beat Greenham gloveside.
Merrill completed the game scoring at 8:40 of the final frame with a 4-on-4 marker. Greenham was completely screened on Merrill's shot fired from the blue line.
Greenham finished the game with 26 saves and both teams were scoreless with the man advantage on the evening.
The teams cap the weekend action with a rematch Saturday night at 7:35 p.m. EST.