Over a weekend that saw the Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team earn four of a possible six points from the Minnesota State Mavericks in a key WCHA series, fans at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena had the opportunity to be witness to the Huskies’ offense breaking out in a big way.

The Huskies scored four goals each night en route to the 4-4 tie Friday night and a 4-0 win on Saturday.

Two Huskies’ forwards, senior Tyler Heinonen and junior Alex Gillies, both had two-goal games, with Heinonen scoring his first goal since Nov. 26 and Gillies scoring for the first time since Dec. 9.

Add to that the fact that freshman Chris Gerrie struck each night, giving him goals in three straight games, and you have the recipe for the type of scoring Huskies’ fans have become accustomed to seeing during the Mel Pearson era.

I used one quote for my recap both for the Gazette and for USCHO.com because I felt that it described the way Michigan Tech played for large stretches of the weekend, especially Saturday night.

“If you get hemmed in your zone, you are playing with fire against them,” said Mavericks coach Mike Hastings. “When they do forecheck, if you don’t get clean exits, they are in some pretty good spots.”

Friday, the Huskies earned a 5-on-3 power play in the second half of the first period and, as one would expect in situation where a team is down two men, the Mavericks struggled to get the puck out of the zone. Freshman Mitch Reinke fired a shot from the point that rebounded out into the slot where Heinonen could get to it and lift it up over goaltender Aaron Nelson for his first goal of the night.

Essentially the same situation happened Heinonen’s second goal. While on the power play, a one-man advantage this time, Reinke had the puck at the left point and fired a shot through traffic that bounced to Gerrie. Gerrie fed the puck back out front to Heinonen, who buried it.

Gerrie’s goal on Friday was also eerily similar. Heinonen got control of the puck out near the Mavericks’ blue line. He found sophomore Jake Lucchini on his way to the net. Lucchini’s deke was stopped, but Gerrie got to the rebound and knocked it home.

On Saturday, Hastings had a simple answer for his team’s struggles when asked about the performance of Nelson: “When you ask your goalie [to stop every puck], he would have had to be perfect tonight.”

Nelson was not perfect. It was not his fault as he was not given much help after the first 10 minutes. Hastings could see it once his team was assessed a penalty midway through the period.

“I thought we had a good first 10 minutes,” said Hastings. “Then, I thought we kind of stalled after. It looked like we ran out of gas.”

After a strong second half to the period, the Huskies worked hard in the second period and that effort led to a power play early on. During the advantage, the Huskies thrice kept the puck in the offensive zone before the Mavericks finally got it out to center ice. Freshman Gavin Gould chased it down and brought it back in and drove hard to the net, leading to Gillies’ first goal.

On another short clear a minute and half later, assistant captain Reid Sturos picked up the puck and carried it back into the zone. He lost the puck on his way to the net, but continued to the slot, where he could act as a screen for Reinke’s shot from the left point on the Huskies’ second tally.

On their third goal, freshman Alex Smith took a pass from freshman Thomas Beretta and carried the puck into the offensive zone. He slowed down along the right boards and waited for the rest of the skaters on the ice from both teams to get past him. He then found Gillies in the left circle. Gillies placed a well-aimed shot over Nelson’s glove for his second of the night.

Even the empty net goal was the result of the Huskies putting pressure on. After Gerrie missed a chance from the neutral zone, he chased the puck into the left corner, where a Mavericks’ defender managed to misplay it. Gerrie grabbed it and skated back out front to deposit it into the net.

This weekend marked the first time the Huskies scored four or more goals in two consecutive games since Nov. 11 and 12 when the Huskies beat then-No. 20 Lake Superior State 6-1 and 4-2.

After a lackluster performance against Alaska-Anchorage, this was a welcome sight for Huskies’ fans. If there was any lingering question about whether or not this group of Huskies could score, it was answered by this much-needed performance.