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Gremlins bury Eskymos Thursday night, 8-1

Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton’s Matthew Ryynanen stops a shot while under pressure from Escanaba’s Nick Kolich during a game Thursday at Dee Stadium. 

HOUGHTON — Escanaba Eskymos coach Matt Hughes knew what he and his team were getting into as the bus pulled into snowy parking spot at Dee Stadium on Thursday night. They were walking into the home of the Houghton Gremlins who have been playing some hot hockey as of late.

The Gremlins did not disappoint their home fans on Senior Night as the downed the Eskymos, 8-1.

This was the second time the two teams have met this season. Houghton won their first game in Escanaba 5-1.

“They are a tough team,” said Hughes. “They are fast and physical and a hard team to create offense against.”

Hughes hit the nail on the head as it took less than two minutes for the Gremlins to get on the scoreboard after the opening faceoff. Forwards Carson Stevens and Niko Rajala were able to create a 2-on-1 situation as Stevens carried the puck across the blue line. He passed across the ice to Rajala, who put it on net. It was deflected by Eskymo goalie Bryce Buchbinder and rolled around the crease only to be poked in by Tucker Tapani.

Their second goal would come five minutes later when Jett Heionen picked up a loose puck fired in by Tapani and lifted it into the back of the net. Then it was senior PJ Donnelly’s time time shine as he put in the next three goals. His first was just five seconds after the Heinonen goal as he too found a deflection coming off a shot by Brad Gauthier and was able to slap it past Buchbinder. His second one came at 14:50 as he worked his way into the center and took a pass from the left wing off the stick of Gautheir and lifted into the back of the net. After 17 minutes of hockey, the score was 4-0.

” I thought we got off to a great start,” noted Gremlin head coach Corey Markham. “Any time you can jump off to a four-goal lead is always helpful.”

Not much changed in the second. Houghton continued to dominate with Donnelly getting his third goal of the night at 1:20 into the period.

The Eskymos could not put any strong offensive pressure together. The Gremlins out-skated them and beat them to the puck just about every time.

Leading 6-0, Markham pulled starting goalie Jimmy Pietila and put in sophomore Matthew Ryynanen between the pipes. He had not even gotten his skates dug in before Grant Wickham of the Eskmoys lifted a backhand shot past him at 6:28 into the second. However that was their only score of the night as Ryynanen did a stellar job of blocking all other shots.

“Matt did great,” said Markham. “He gave up that first shot, but that was a great goal and there was no fault of his own.”

Also scoring in the second was Brenden Erickson who back-to-back goals for the Gremlins.

In the third period, Carson Stevens put in the Gremlins’ eighth, and final, goal of the night at 4:47.

Markhan noted that he and his team are now focused on the playoffs. The Gremlins will face the Jeffers Jets Tuesday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

Scoring

Escanaba 0 1 0 – 1

Houghton 4 3 1 – 8

First period

1, HHS, Tucker Tapani (Niko Rajala, Carson Stevens),1:35

2, HHS, Jett Heinonen (Tapani, Kevin Bostwick), 6:08

3, HHS, P.J. Donnelly (Brad Gauthier, Bostwick), 6:13

4, HHS, Donnelly (Gauthier, Ty Halonen), 14:50

Second period

5, HHS, Donnelly (Brenden Erickson, Rajala), 1:20

6, HHS, Erickson, 6:14

7, EHS, Grant Wickham (Chris Silva, Braden Reichart), 6:28

8, HHS, Erickson (Bostwick), 9:37

Third period

9, HHS, Stevens (Rajala, Dane Johnson), 4:47

Saves

EHS, Buchbinder 11 10 13 – 34

HHS, Pietilla 5 4 0 – 9

Ryynanen 0 3 5 – 8

Power plays

EHS: 0/3; HHS: 1/2

Penalties

EHS: 2/4; HHS 3/6

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