Box Score Box Score
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Trailing 2-0 entering the final period, the Alaska Nanooks put together a furious rally to tie 11th-ranked Western Michigan 2-2 in a CCHA matchup, but it was the Broncos who came away with a 2-1 shootout victory Saturday night at the Carlson Center.
The Broncos' record now stands at 3-0-3 overall and 2-0-1-1 in league play, while the Nanooks' mark is 3-2-1 on the year and 0-1-1-0 in the CCHA.
In the shootout, Alaska took a 1-0 lead after the first round when
Colton Beck found the net, but WMU tied it up at 1-1 with a tally by Chase Balisy in the second. After both teams failed to score in the third, Derek Roehl made it 2-1 in favor of WMU in the fourth.
Nik Yaremchuk's attempt was saved by goaltender Frank Slubowsi to give the visitors the extra point in the conference standings.
WMU jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 2:22 of the first period on a short-handed tally by Garrett Haar that came just a second after a cross-checking penalty to junior
Chad Gehon expired to put the Nanooks on their first power play of the game.
The visitors doubled up at 17:25 of the second, when Chase Balisy converted on passes from Jordan Oesterle and Haar. Despite trailing 2-0, the Nanooks had outshot the Broncos 18-13 through the first 40 minutes of play and kept them scoreless through six man-advantage opportunities.
Facing a two-goal deficit heading into the final frame, Alaska's junior forwards
Nik Yaremchuk and sophomore
Cody Kunyk helped to cut their debt in half. Yaremchuck and Kunyk exchanged the puck as they entered the offensive zone and evaded their pursuers and then Kunyk unleashed a wrist shot from the high slot. Slubowski made the save but provided a juicy rebound that Yaremchuk pounced on and tapped past the sprawling Bronco goalie to make it 2-1 at 2:06.
Junior forward
Andy Taranto netted the equalizer in the wanning minutes of the game, when he collected a rebound off of junior Jarrett Granberg's shot and slid it past Slubowski at 17:52. Sophomore
Colton Beck started the play rescuing the puck from the half boards and feeding it to Granberg, who fired a shot from the left face-off circle to set Taranto up for his second score of the year. Alaska outshout Western 13-4 in the third period en route to knotting the score and forcing overtime.
Despite holding a 3-2 shot advantage in the extra session, the five-minute period wasn't enough time for either team to prove the victor so they each gained a point in the CCHA standings and the game went in the books as a 2-2 tie.
For the evening, the Blue and Gold were 0-for-5 on the power play but 8-of-8 on the penalty kill.
Greenham made 17 saves in the tie, while Slubowski had 32 at the opposite end of the rink.
Alaska hits the road Monday night to Columbus, Ohio, where they will face off against the Ohio State Buckeyes on Thursday and Friday for their first road series of the season.
