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Tech drops hard-fought battle to No. 16 NMU 2-1

Michigan Tech’s Joel L’Esperance battles with Northern Michigan’s Jordan Klimek Friday at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. (Daily Mining Gazette/David Archambeau)

MARQUETTE — It has been an impressive year for the Northern Michigan hockey team, and on Friday night it checked two more things off its list of accomplishments.

First, the Wildcats outlasted archrival Michigan Tech 2-1 thanks to a third-period goal by forward Darien Craighead.

And secondly, and most importantly, NMU (21-11-3, 19-6-2-2 WCHA) locked up the No. 2 seed in the WCHA playoffs with Bowling Green State’s loss to Alabama-Huntsville and Minnesota State’s win over Bemidji State.

“It was a hard game,” NMU coach Grant Potulny said. “I don’t think either team probably played to their top ability and it took a little bit for us to get into it, which we expected (after) being off because it’s hard to replicate game stuff.

“We got better as it went and we made one more play than they did. At the end of the day, that’s hockey. You got your best players out there and they’ve got to make one more play and tonight they did.

“Our penalty kill was outstanding. We killed four penalties and did a great job of killing the minute and a half by moving the puck around. So that was fun.

“There just wasn’t a lot of opportunities to score and if you look at the shot chart for both teams, there wasn’t a lot of Grade A (chances) and neither team really had any. You knew if you were to get a chance, you had to make it count.”

For the Huskies (16-15-5, 11-11-5-2), it was a tough outcome as the game was a tight affair for the most part, and coach Joe Shawhan said his squad accomplished most of what it wanted to do.

“We were able to do the things we wanted to do tonight, to be honest, except for generating offense,” he said. “We’re challenged that way in a lot of ways.

“We didn’t give up much. We’ll look at the scoring chances and I think they probably didn’t get much more than eight or 10, which is a great output. I don’t think we generated any more than that either.”

While NMU is still waiting to see who it will play in the first round of the postseason, Tech already knows its fate as it will head to Bemidji, Minnesota, next weekend. Shawhan said he likes knowing who his team will play ahead of time, but says his team’s injuries could be an issue.

“It’s good, also for the fact that we just got done playing them,” he said. “We haven’t seen their rink this year and a lot of our guys haven’t seen their rink.

“One of the difficulties that we’re going to have is our depth. We’re banged up pretty good and it doesn’t look like we’re going to get much help coming back. So that’s a big deal.”

NMU began the third period fast with two great scoring opportunities in the first two minutes. With 18:15 remaining, Wildcats defenseman Jordan Klimek weaved his way to the net but his shot was stopped by Tech goalie Devin Kero. A juicy rebound was on the doorstep, but Kero sprawled backward to swipe it out with his glove.

But Kero couldn’t stop Northern’s next chance. A shot was deflected at the point and went right to Craighead, who went top shelf over Kero’s blocker. Northern had a chance to pad its lead on a late power play, but Tech killed off the penalty. With less than a minute left, Tech got off two close shots on NMU goalie Atte Tolvanen, but the goalie managed to stop both to preserve the win.

The Huskies started the second period with a little jump in their skates, getting a couple of good looks at Tolvanen. After hitting the post three minutes into the frame, Tech captain Brent Baltus got the Huskies on the board. Tech took advantage of a Northern defensive breakdown and Baltus rang a shot off the crossbar past Tolvanen to go up 1-0.

The Wildcats didn’t get their first scoring chance until 11:40 remained when Adam Rockwood’s wraparound attempt was saved by Kero. With eight minutes left in the frame, Northern’s next good shot got past Kero as Wildcats captain Robbie Payne beat him five-hole for his 20th goal of the season.

– – –

Northern Michigan 2, Michigan Tech 1

First period — No scoring

Second period — 1. MTU Brent Baltus 10 (Smith, Beretta) 6:05; 2. NMU Robbie Payne 20 (Black, Beaulieu) 10:15

Third period — 3. NMU Darien Craighead 17 (Payne, Klimek) 4:40

Power-play opportunities MTU 0 for 4, NMU 0 for 1

Penalties: MTU 2-4, NMU 5-10

Goalie saves: MTU, Devin Kero 25 (8-11-6); NMU, Atte Tolvanen 17 (7-3-7)

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