Houghton’s Sam Raber and Howell’s Cameron Sturos attempt to gain possession Wednesday, at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena. (David Archambeau/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — The Houghton Gremlins are familiar with the Hancock Bulldogs. They are used to the Calumet Copper Kings. After all, the three teams are constant competitors, rivals and neighbors. But the fourth team in the 43rd Annual John MacInnes Holiday Hockey Classic is a different story. The Howell Highlanders, who traveled 523 miles to participate in the tournament, provide something neither the Copper Kings nor the Bulldogs can: new blood. 

“It is nice to see a different opponent,” Houghton coach Corey Markham said. “Anytime you play locally, you know the teams and you play them all the time, but when you get a different team that you don’t see except once a year, you get a different taste. It is nice to see a different style of play.”

Houghton was ready for an unfamiliar foe. 

After a slow start, the Gremlins (5-4-1) took a lead and held it, cruising to a 4-0 shutout over Howell (4-5) on Wednesday in the MacInnes Student Ice Arena. 

Houghton will now face Hancock in the championship game tonight at 8 p.m., while Howell faces Calumet at 6 p.m. in the consolation matchup.

“The pace of the game to start wasn’t what I hoped for, but as it went along I thought we got stronger, I thought our pace picked up and I thought we competed a little bit harder,” Markham said. “We got the lead and then were obviously able to build off of that.” 

The Gremlins inability to create early chances was mitigated by their defense. Eventually, their offense started to pick up, but the Gremlins controlled the game by limiting Howell’s high-percentage looks. Goaltender Will Stier was essentially unchallenged, as the Highlanders put just 10 shots on frame with Stier saving all of them.

“I was really happy with that,” Markham said. “Very few grade-A chances; I counted maybe two in the whole game. Our team defense was good and that was a huge part in the game, us limiting their good chances.”

Eventually, their offense caught up with their defense, and the Gremlins rattled off four goals: Two from Dawson McKay, one from Kevin Bostwick and another from Patrick Donnelly. 

Bostwick took Houghton’s first quality shot of the game at 10:25 when he fired from the outside edge of the face-off circle. The puck rebounded and the Gremlins didn’t score, but Bostwick wasn’t done shooting, and certainly not from long range. 

The junior positioned himself on the blue line and received a pass from Taavi Rajala with 10:46 to go in the second period. Bostwick pulled his stick back and shot, and the puck bounced off Howell goalie Calvin Kantola and over his head for a 1-0 Houghton lead.

It was fitting that Rajala was credited with the assist, as the forward was responsible for most of Houghton’s offensive attack in the first period. He also finished the contest with three assists. 

The game began in relatively uneventful fashion, with neither team turning out many scoring chances. But things got better for the Gremlins as time went on. 

They closed the first with three solid looks in the last five minutes of action. Rajala had perhaps the two best opportunities of the frame. The first was when he came up with the puck in front of Howell’s goal at 4:37. The Highlanders turned the puck over behind their net, and after a scramble, Rajala gained possession but was surrounded by Howell defenders. The senior didn’t convert, and Kantola came up with the save. 

Then, Rajala was gifted with another turnover and a pass in front of the net at 4:21, but Kantola recorded another save — he had 25 on the game. 

Houghton ended the period tied at 0, but the increase of offense as time wound down carried over into the second when Bostwick gave the Gremlins a 1-0 lead. The first goal gave the Gremlins some much-needed offensive momentum, and they scored three more in the third period to assure a win. 

“Going into the third with it at 1-0, we needed to turn it up a notch, but it seemed like we were tired and they came out and gave it to us in the third,” Howell coach Eric Hirzel said. “We looked like we couldn’t keep up, couldn’t skate with them.”

Houghton went up 2-0 with 2:44 gone by in the third when Donnelly found himself in the right place at the right time. The puck ricocheted off the leg of Kantola and bounced to Donnelly on the weak side where he tapped it in.

Then, McKay tacked on two more goals to really put the game out of reach. At 7:43 remaining, he skated around the back of the net and snuck the puck past Kantola, and then two minutes later, the senior broke away from the Howell defense and won a one-on-one battle with Kantola. 

According to Markham, four is the magic number when it comes to goal scoring. 

“I do feel if we can score four then we are going to be in really good shape to win because we usually play really good team defense,” he said. 

Howell and Houghton both came into Wednesday’s contest with four wins and four losses, but while the Gremlins are on the rise with four wins in a row, the Highlanders are slowing down, going 1-3 over their last four games. 

The victory pushed Houghton over the .500 mark, giving the Gremlins a winning record. The last time Houghton and Hancock met, on Nov. 28, the Bulldogs came away with a 4-2 win. 

– – –

Howell 0 0 0 — 0

Houghton 0 1 3 — 4

First period

None

Second period

Houghton – Kevin Bostwick (Taavi Rajala), 6:14, 1-0.

Third period

Houghton- Patrick Donnelly (Rajala, Dawson McKay), 2:44, 2-0.

Houghton- McKay (Rajala, Ty Halonen), 7:43, 3-0.

Houghton- McKay, 9:43, 4-0.

Saves

Howell, Calvin Kantola 25; Houghton, William Stier 10.

Penalties

Howell: 2/4; Houghton: 3/6.

Power Plays

Howell: 0/3; Houghton: 0/2.