Hancock’s Dawson Kero makes a save against Novi’s Maanas Sharma in the second period on Friday at the Houghton County Arena. Hancock won 9-1 on a mercy rule in the third period. The Bulldogs host Orchard Lake St. Mary’s today at 1 p.m. (Daily Mining Gazette/Eden Laase)

HANCOCK — Sometimes Hancock coach Dan Rouleau has it easy. For instance, when a play breaks down, most coaches would be frantic, wondering how things will shake out. But Rouleau gets to relax. He knows how it will go.

Usually the play ends with a puck in the net and a scorekeeper marking down No. 12 or No. 10 on the stat sheet.

He’s seen it countless times, and he saw it all over the ice on Friday, when Hancock defeated visiting Novi 9-1 on a mercy rule in the third period.

Alex Nordstrom (10) scored two goals and had three assists, and Teddy Randell (12) netted four goals and added an assist.

Hancock has scored 56 goals over 12 games this year, and according to Rouleau, about 50 percent of those can be credited to Nordstrom and Randell salvaging plays and using their instincts.

And against Novi, that’s how things started.

With 4:24 gone by in the first period, Nordstrom found himself in open ice. He controlled a pass, used his speed to out-skate the Novi defenders and flung the puck past Ethan Hunsinger for a 1-0 lead.

“They improvise a lot,” Rouleau said of Nordstrom and Randell. “You want to get the puck in the neutral zone with speed, we practice that, and that was a case of that, but the kid (Nordstrom) is just so creative, and I tell him on all of our plays, ‘If something else opens up for you, run with it.’ Alex and Teddy are both very good at that.

“If something breaks down, they are smart enough to adapt and do something else on a play.”

When the two forwards are in control, defending Hancock can be a nightmare for opposing teams. The Bulldogs run most of their offense through Nordstrom and Randell, so stopping the Hancock attack means stopping its two stars. And Novi coach Mark Velucci knows that is easier said than done.

“Those two players, they are solid,” he said. “And our D got caught flat-footed a few times. They are shifty and crafty, and we couldn’t get enough bodies on them. They move the puck. One thing Hancock always has done over the years is move the puck very well, not just on power play, but on five-on-five.”

Seven of Hancock’s goals came in even-strength play, with one power-play goal and one shorthanded goal. Adding to Nordstrom and Randell’s six combined goals, Trevor Tchida scored twice, and Colton Salani added another.

Hancock dominated play from the start, but Velucci felt like Novi was still in the game until midway through the second when Randell gave the Bulldogs a 4-1 lead. From there, the Wildcats lost their spark.

Hancock had its most scoring chances (20), but fewest goals (2) in the first frame.

“In the first period when it was 2-0, I thought Ethan Hunsinger really kept us in it, being down just two was fortunate for us,” Velucci said. “But after that, in the first half of the second period I thought we played hard, but once they got that fourth goal it kind of deflated us. And to Hancock’s credit, they took it to us.”

That is just the kind of game Rouleau was looking for. After a 2-0 loss to Houghton on Dec. 28, and their first shutout of the season, the Bulldogs needed to bounce back in a big way.

Against Houghton, the Bulldogs struggled with penalties, so poise has been the focus in practice since the loss. They had five penalties against Novi, compared to 15 against Houghton.

“We had a pretty good week of practice,” Rouleau said. “We have been preaching discipline because we have been taking too many penalties so we are trying to cut down on that, and I thought we did tonight, pretty much. That was a big point with us in the Houghton game, was taking stupid penalties. We did take a couple tonight, but we are getting better.”

Hancock also used the lopsided victory to work on its defensive arrangements. Rouleau wanted his team to be quicker getting to lose pucks, something the Bulldogs did against Novi.

“Our goal coming into the third period was not necessarily to score more goals and end the game, but it was not to give up any goals, and we accomplished that while scoring the four,” he said. “We did tighten up our defensive coverage and tighten guys up along the goal line. We are getting beat on the corner quite a bit with our winger up high, so we brought him down to help out in front and in the corners.”

Next up, Hancock (10-2) welcomes Orchard Lake St. Mary’s today at 1 p.m.

– – –

Novi    0       1       0       —       1

Hancock 2       3       4       —       9

First period

Hancock — Alex Nordstrom (Austin Salani), 4:24, 1-0.

Hancock — Trevor Tchida (Nordstrom, Teddy Perrault), 7:38, 2-0.

Second period

Hancock — Tchida (Colton Salani, Teddy Randell), 3:29, 3-0.

Novi — Alex Scarozza (Maanas Sharma), 6:59, 3-1.

Hancock — Randell (Nordstrom), 13:27, 4-1.

Hancock — Nordstrom (Pietila), Perrault), 14:49, 5-1.

Third period

Hancock — Randell (Austin Salani), 2:31, 6-1.

Hancock — Colton Salani (Petr Anderson, Nordstrom), 4:24, 7-1.

Hancock — Randell (Austin Salani, Jakob Vettori), 9:46, 8-1.

Hancock — Randell (Colton Salani, Vettori), 12:30, 9-1.

Saves

Novi: Ethan Hunsinger 37; Hancock: Dawson Kero 13.

Penalties

Novi: 7/14; Hancock: 5.10.

Power plays

Novi: 0/5; Hancock: 1/6.