HOUGHTON — The Michigan Tech Huskies went through a range of emotions last weekend in a sweep at home of the Alaska Nanooks. On Friday, they held their Copper Country Strong night, and senior goaltender Devin Kero started the game on a night where his team honored his fallen cousin. On Saturday, the Huskies’ offense broke through for their highest output of the season.

A pair of freshmen forwards, Brian Halonen and Tommy Parrottino came through with goals in the Friday night victory, Kero was excellent in goal, stopping 20 of 21 Nanooks’ shots in earning his first win of the season.

Saturday night, junior winger Gavin Gould had three goals with one in the first and two in the second. He was not the only Huskies’ skater to break out. Co-captain Jake Lucchini had a goal and two assists, sophomore defenseman Tyler Rockwell also had a goal and two assists, and co-captain Dylan Steman had two assists on the night.

Huskies coach Joe Shawhan was happy to see Gould breakout to put the Huskies ahead for good.

“He played the game the right way for us on Saturday, for sure,” Shawhan said. “Offense comes off of good defense. We say that the best hockey players compete at both ends. It gives them position time, it drives possession, it creates opportunities.

“Gavin played the game the right way. Gavin was in on the puck. He was forechecking hard. He was winning battles (and) getting pucks out of the zone, as were a lot of other guys.”

Friday night’s Copper Country Strong game was one that brought the community together in many ways. The Huskies had the family of Thatcher Markham on the ice for the opening faceoff and then had first responders on the ice between the first and second periods for a standing ovation.

“It was emotional for sure,” said Shawhan. “I’ve said many times I’m not sure if it was closure, I’m not sure if it was a celebration of the flood, but (it felt like it was) a combination of all there of.

“A lot of people were honored and recognized. We got to celebrate a quality life in our community that was taken way too early. It was certainly an emotional weekend, a lot of people came out, there was a lot going on that night…and they still came out and supported us. It was fun.”

The power play was a strong point during last weekend’s sweep. The main reason, according to Shawhan, the Huskies had success was player chemistry.

“We’re getting great role play out of a lot of guys and part of that role play is not having too much skill in our lineup that’s not giving us everything that we need,” he said. “When our power play started working, it would show that guys are getting a little more critical and a little bit more time in the ice that you need to have success offensively. (We knew) that (it) would impact the whole game, and that’s what happened.

“It’s not that the power play led to (success), but it was the guys that were on the power play were focused on what they had to do. They were engaged and did it throughout the game in all aspects. (That) helped us a great deal.”

Shawhan was happy to see his players rewarded for their hard work.

“There were just a lot of positives that went the right way for us,” he said. “But, the guys got what they deserved because they earned it. This weekend will be different, we’re going to have to play better then we did last weekend in a lot of ways and we’ll get less reward for it. It’s not about instant gratification. It’s about staying on the course.”

Shawhan plans to start sophomore goaltender Robbie Beydoun against a challenging Bemidji State Beavers who are 4-2 in conference play and 6-5-1 overall and will be looking to keep their strong play going after they earned a split last weekend with the Minnesota State Mavericks, losing Friday, 3-2, before coming back and winning Saturday, 4-2.

“Robbie Beydoun is playing well,” said Shawhan. “He’s going to play and he’s going to create comparisons.Circumstances right now are leading us to go the way we’re going, but we have three goaltenders and I’m not afraid to play any of them. We’re going to play them all and at some point, I hope that someone is going to grab it and go with it.”

Bemidji State lost a number of key players to signings and graduation, including four-year starting goaltender Michael Bitzer, but players like sophomore Brendan Harris, who has the team-lead in assists (6) and is tied for the lead in points (7). Senior Jay Dickman and sophomore Aaron Miller have also put up seven points each with Miller having racked up a team-high five goals.

Shawhan feels that Beydoun is ready for the challenge presented by the young, skilled Beavers forwards.

“They (are) very well coached,” said Shawhan. “They do things the right way. Their players get better year in, year out. They lost some significant players. They do it like schools like us need to do it, their guys get better and better every year. With some guys graduated, it presents opportunities for other (players).

“The’ve played top-ranked teams and played them well, so it’s going to be a great test for us. I’m excited for it. I think it’ll give us an idea of where we’re at. It’s on our home ice, which is good. The next time we see them, it’ll be an outdoor game, as long as weather permits.”

The Beavers have seen sophomores Zach Driscoll and Henry Johnson split time to this point between the pipes. Both have played quite well, as Driscoll is 3-2-1 and Johnson is 3-3-0. Both have goals against averages under 1.81, and both have save percentages of .926 or higher.

GAME TIMES

Opening faceoff for both nights is slated for 7:07 p.m. at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.