HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech Huskies defeated the Alaska Nanooks hockey team 7-2 to complete the weekend sweep in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena on Saturday afternoon. The loss drops Alaska's overall record to 2-10-2 and 2-5-1-1 in conference play, while the Huskies improve to 7-5-0 on the season and 6-0-0-0 in league games.
The Huskies control first place in the league standings with 18 points, remaining undefeated in WCHA games, while the Nanooks remain in seventh place in the rankings with eight points.
Michigan Tech's Gavin Gould scored the lone first period goal on Saturday, an even-strength tally at he 4:15 mark to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Alaska responded only three minutes into the second, as freshman defenseman
Antti Virtanen scored his first collegiate goal on the power play. Virtanen's tally was assisted by junior forward
Tyler Cline and freshman forward
Sam Ruffin, putting Ruffin on a two-game point streak (both assists).
Gould scored two more goals in the second period, earning a hat trick before 40 minutes concluded.
The Huskies went on to score four more goals before the end of regulation, including three in the third period and two on the man-advantage.
The Nanooks scored their final goal of the weekend with an even-strength tally from junior defenseman
Tristan Thompson at the 13:17 mark. Thompson's goal was assisted by junior forward
Colton Leiter and sophomore forward
Steven Jandric.
The Nanooks were outshot by their opponent 60-29 with junior netminder
Anton Martinsson turning away 20 saves in the first period alone and six in the second period being relieved by rookie goaltender Gustavs Grigals. In 31:01 in net, Grigals tallied 11 saves in the second period and 16 in the third for a total of 27 against the Huskies.
On the other end of the ice, Michigan Tech's Matt Jurusik tallied 27 saves, including 12 in the second and 10 in the third.
In the special teams race, Alaska went 1-for-4 on the power play, while MTU went 2-for-7 on the man-advantage.
The Alaska Nanooks hockey team returns home for a two-week homestand before the holiday break, hosting the Ferris State Bulldogs in a two-game WCHA series this Friday, Nov. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 1 at the Carlson Center. Puck-drop both nights is scheduled for 7:07pm AKST.
The Alaska Nanooks Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be hosting their annual Teddy Bear Toss on Saturday, Dec. 1's game against Ferris State. The Alaska SAAC is asking fans to bring new or slightly used stuffed animals to be thrown on the ice at the first intermission, which will then be donated to Santa's Helpers, to be distributed to families in need around the holiday season.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Hockey team page on Facebook.
