Jamie Glenn/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton’s Seth Francois tries to get to a puck in front of the Utica Eisenhower goal during a game Saturday at Dee Stadium.

HOUGHTON — After a slow opening period, the Houghton Gremlins picked things up in the second and, in the end, proved to be too much for the visiting Utica Eisenhower Eagles Saturday in a 6-0 win at Dee Stadium.

The Eagles spent 30 minutes in the penalty box over the course of the game, which did not help.

Houghton needed nearly the entirety of the opening frame to strike. Brendan Erickson skated down the right boards before moving the puck over to captain Kevin Bostwick at 14:53.

Bostwick would return the favor, feeding Erickson, a senior, on a right side of blueline for a blast into the back left corner of the net at 15:58.

The Gremlins took six of their 10 penalty minutes in the first period, which was something that coach Corey Markham was not happy with.

“In the first period, we took a couple of undisciplined penalties,” he said. “That hurt us, but after that point, we were very disciplined and gave them very few opportunities to be on the power play.

“It’s all about mentality and making sure that the kids are aware of how bad it will hurt you if you’re not on a disciplined team. They (Eisenhower) had that on their end where they were a little bit undisciplined and it cost them.”

Utica held Houghton to a single goal in the second period. Senior P.J Donnelly set up senior Justin Norkol for a shot that sailed into the upper left side of the net at 16:27.

Donnelly would get a goal of his own at 9:05 into the third period after senior Brad Gauthier went swooped around the back of the net and passed the puck over to Donnelly for a quick shot.

The Gremlins struck two other times in the third, the first at 1:30 as junior Niko Rajala took a pass from Norkol and buried it. Dane Johnson also assisted on the play.

Senior Seth Francois scored at 5:02 in the third after a good move on a 1-on-1.

Markham things he wants the Gremlins to focus on in practice.

“Overall, I thought we had a pretty solid game,” he said. “I thought we were pretty slow coming out of the gate execution-wise. We weren’t moving the puck very well, but I thought, as the game went along, we got a little bit better.

“We scored a couple of really nice goals.”

Markham liked what he saw for much of Saturday, but he still wants his team improve on 5-on-3 situations before they face Calumet on Tuesday.

“On the downside, we had a couple of 5-on-3’s that we did not convert and that’s something that we need to work on in practice.” he said. “Those don’t happen (very often) and we got two in this game. We need to touch on that a little bit more but we have a huge game against Calumet on Tuesday. That’s going to be a huge conference game for us. That’s what we’re looking forward to right now”

Utica Eisenhower coach Bob Hall felt Houghton played a good game against a team that has struggled to find consistency.

“Houghton is a good team,” said Hall. “They worked hard. They outworked us in many aspects of the game. We had points where we were playing well and then we had big let downs.

“We had highs and lows throughout the game. Every time we’d get some momentum, we lost some momentum that quick (and that’s) what the game is about.”

Penalty calls cost the Eagles often when they were trying to build some momentum.

“Halfway through the third period, we were hoping to get one back right away,” Hall said. “They got four, then five, (and) you could kind of see it falling apart.

“It was a little one-sided towards the end, but that (was) our players starting to get frustrated. (It) started to set in. They have to learn how to keep their head and play through it.”

“Our strength usually is our defensive end,” said Hall. “It didn’t look like it (Saturday). Our weakness is usually generating offense. We need to start generating more opportunities starting in our end and going strong through the neutral zone.”

Scoring

Utica 0 0 0 – 0

Houghton 2 1 3 – 6

First period

1, HHS, Kevin Bostwick (Brendan Erickson), 14:53

2, HHS, Erickson (Bostwick), 15:58

Second period

3, HHS, Justin Norkol (P.J. Donnelly), 16:27

Third period

4, HHS, Niko Rajala (Norkol), 1:30

5, HHS, Seth Francois, 5:02

6, HHS, Donnelly (Brad Gauthier), 9:05

Saves

UTI, Carabelli 11 12 17 -40

HHS, Pietila 4 3 1 – 8

Power plays

UTI: 0/5; HHS: 0/10

Penalties

UTI: 11/30; HHS: 5/10