Box Score HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - For the second straight game, Alaska scored three third period goals to earn a come-from-behind win, this time a 4-2 triumph over the Alabama Huntsville Chargers at the Von Braun Center on Friday night.
Marcus Basara scored two goals for Alaska, including the game-winner, while Tyler Morley scored the game-tying goal as he has now scored in three-straight games. Colton Sparrow added an insurance goal with under four-minutes to play, sealing the win.
With the win, Alaska improves to 16-13-1 overall and 11-12-2 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Alabama Huntsville's playoff hopes took a hit as it slips to 8-21-4 overall and 7-17-1 in conference play. The Nanooks have now gone five games unbeaten, including four wins in that stretch.
Said head coach Dallas Ferguson, "Tonight was a solid performance by our team. I'm proud of how they stayed the course to get the two points."
The Nooks found themselves in an early hole as Alabama Huntsville took the lead, completely against the run of play, with a scrappy goal late in the first period. Brandon Carlson got credit for giving the Chargers the lead on a play that caused mass confusion. A shot from the point was stopped in front by Sean Cahill, but a scrum in front of the Nanook goal ensued with the puck eking its way over the line.
At the end of 20 minutes, Alaska was dominating the play and had outshot the Chargers, 13-4, but found itself trailing, 1-0.
UAH doubled its lead in bizarre fashion at the 9:26 mark of the second period. T. Morley and Garrick Perry led an odd-man rush up the ice for the Nanooks before Perry's shot beat Huntsville's Carmine Guerriero but deflected off the goal post. The rebound started a breakaway for the Chargers' Josh Kestner who beat Cahill to give UAH a 2-0 lead.
From that point on, however, it was all Nanooks. UAH only mustered three shots in the entire second period, compared to Alaska's 16, who made the pressure pay as Basara scored a four-on-four goal to get the Nanooks back in the game. Peter Krieger registered his sixth assist of the season, as his shot fell to Basara to score his 11th.
Alaska came out with real intent in the third period, registering five shots on goal in the opening exchanges. Then, on the penalty kill, T. Morley beat Guerriero after a feed from Josh Atkinson, to level the game at two goals apiece at the 10:43 mark. The goal was Morley's fourth in three games, and marked the second game in a row that he has scored the game-tying goal, shorthanded.
With exactly five minutes to play, and just five seconds after the start of a power play, Basara netted his second of the evening and 12th of the campaign, giving Alaska a 3-2 advantage. T. Morley tallied his team-leading 20th assist as he won the faceoff straight to Colton Paryako, who fed it back to Morley, who then found Basara to wrist an effort towards goal. Guerriero shouldered the puck into the air, but it fell behind him and found its way over the line.
"Special teams was a big part of the outcome of tonight's game," stated Ferguson. "The shorthanded goal to tie the game sparked our team and our power play, which had struggled early, got us a big goal late in the game."
The Nanooks kept the foot on the gas and scored again less than two minutes later. Atkinson and Austin Vieth earned assists as Sparrow scored right off of another faceoff, sealing the win for the Nanooks.
Alaska dominated the game statistically, as they peppered the Huntsville goal with 41 shots compared to only 15 by the Chargers. Cahill made 13 saves overall, including 8-of-8 in the third period.
"I like how our team stayed focused on the next shift," finished Coach Ferguson. "We had quality time in the offensive zone, but did not have much to show for it through two periods. Our guys were rewarded in the third for the resolved that they showed."
The Nanooks and Chargers close out their season series, with Alaska looking to take all four games, tomorrow night again at 4:07 p.m. AKT. Following that game, the Nanooks will head to Anchorage to close out their season with a chance to win the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup.
