MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Alaska Nanooks hockey team splits the weekend with the Northern Michigan Univeristy Wildcats after falling 5-3 in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest at the Berry Events Center on Saturday night. The Nanooks drop their overall record to 7-13-4 and 5-11-4 in WCHA games, while the Wildcats improve to 9-9-6 overall and 7-7-4 in WCHA play.
"I think the first and the third period were good for us, having a lead, but I think we didn't play very smart hockey in the second period," head coach Dallas Ferguson said following Saturday night's game. "I really liked how our guys responded after a rough second period, it's not an easy thing to do after killing so many penalties. The penalty kill found a way to keep it out of the net, we had to reset real quick for a tough third period. Ultimately, we weren't able to capitalize on our opportunities but I don't think it was from a lack of effort. The guys put us in a good position to get a win but it is a little disappointing that we didn't get it done."
The Nanooks had one of their better nights on the power play, succeeding on 2-of-5 chances while the Wildcats were able to capitalize on 1-of-5 power play opportunities. Freshman goaltender Jesse Jenks made 31 saves on the night, including 16 in the second period. On the other end of the ice, Northern Michigan's Mathias Dahlstrom made 35 saves, including 20 in the third period. The Nanooks edged out the Wildcats in shots on goal Saturday night, 38-36.
After a scoreless first period in Friday's game, Saturday's contest saw three goals combined from both teams in the first stanza. Northern Michigan took the lead for the first time in the weekend's series, as Denver Pierce put the Wildcats up 1-0 at the 10:12 mark. Fillip Starzynski started the play by pressuring the Nanook defenseman hard in the corner, winning the battle and kicking the puck to Anthony Paskaruk who was below the goal line. Paskaruk took a look over his shoulder and made a tough backhanded pass to Pierce, who was alone in front of and Jenks and put it away upstairs.
Six minutes later, senior forward Alec Hajdukovich tied things up 1-1 on the power play at the 16:05 mark of the second period. Sophomore forward Peter Krieger was working the half-wall on the Nanooks power play, walking along the half-wall before throwing the puck down to Hajdukovich, who was deep in the NMU corner. Hajdukovich held on to the puck for a moment, drawing the Wildcat's penalty killers to him as freshman forward Chad Staley was creeping from backdoor into the slot. Hajdukovich tried to dish the puck to Staley but the puck got caught in a Wildcat skate and was deflected in the net. Hajdukovich's second goal in two games was assisted by Krieger, who continues to lead the Nanooks in assists with 14.
The Nanooks took the lead late in the first period, as senior forward Tyler Morley threw the puck on net deep from the Northern Michigan corner. Dahlstrom made the initial save but didn't realize the puck was caught in his pads, before moving side-to-side and the puck crossing the goal line behind him. T. Morley's 12th goal of the season was assisted by senior forward Nolan Huysmans (third point in two games) and Hajdukovich for his second point of the night.
Northern Michigan stormed back in the second period to tie things up 2-2 on the power play, as the Nanooks took five penalties in the second period. Northern Michigan was working a 5-on-3 power play when Darren Nowick kicked the puck over to Dominik Shine, who was on the flank, when Shine ripped a shot past Jenks far-side top-shelf right as one Nanook penalty expired. Cohen Adair was credited the secondary assist at 1:45 of the second period.
Sophomore defenseman Justin Woods scored the final goal for the Nanooks 50 seconds into the third period on the power play. Woods took a wrist shot from the point to put it past Dahlstrom to make it 3-2 Nanooks. Woods' second goal of the night was assisted by junior forward Marcus Basara and T. Morley, earning his second point of the night.
From there, the Wildcats scored three more goals to secure the victory. At the 2:28 mark Ryan Trenz tipped in a shot from Pierce, who was entering the zone wide before firing it on net to tie things up 3-3. At the 14:14 mark of the third period, Barrett Kaib used the Nanook defenseman as a screen before shooting the puck on a NMU rush into the Nanook zone, giving them a 4-3 lead, before Brock Mashmeyer scored on an open net goal at the 18:58 mark of the third period.
"Anytime you're on a two-week road trip, it takes a toll on you. It'll be nice for the guys to get some regular sleep in their own bed and get settled with their new classes for the semester and have a good start in academics," Ferguson said of returning to Fairbanks for two weeks. "Overall, I think we did some good things on this road trip. We'll take a couple things from the past four games and see how the rest of the WCHA teams are doing the next couple weeks but we want to be prepared for that final second-half push. We'll regroup this week, let the boys get rested and let them get situated in their school routine and go from there."
The Alaska Nanooks hockey team returns to Fairbanks for a buy-week, before heading to the University of Wisconsin for a two-game non-conference series with the Badgers Jan. 29-30 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Hockey page on Facebook.
