Kat Torreano/Mining Journal (Marquette) Northern Michigan University’s Garrett Klee, left, battles for the puck against Michigan Tech’s Brenden Datema, right, at a game at Northern Michigan Univeristy’s Berry Events Center in Marquette Friday.

MARQUETTE — The Michigan Tech Huskies’ offense ignited with an explosive 8-4 win against rival Northern Michigan on Friday.

Sophomore Trenton Bliss scored his first collegiate hat trick to lead the Huskies. Sophomore Alec Broetzman scored twice.

Bliss’ high school hockey coach from Appleton United, Mike Brolsma, attended Friday’s game with his two sons. Bliss gave a stick to both kids, including the hat trick stick broken by his deflection on a shot from the point for his 12th of the year.

“I felt it redirect off my stick and turned around and saw it in and was like wow — it was a crazy feeling,” Bliss said with a smile. “It’s even more special that we were able to win, especially against Northern with the big rivalry, so that’s awesome.

“They’re really special to me and my family. Just kind of always being there for us in tough times,” Bliss said of Brolsma. “That’s kind of how the hockey community is in Appleton. Special to be able to do that in front of them.”

The win helped the Huskies in a heated race among the middle of the WCHA teams for a right to host a conference playoff series. Tech inched to No. 5 in the league standings with the win and sit three points behind the Wildcats at No. 3. Bowling Green, at No. 4, has 46 points after an overtime win against Alabama-Huntsville. The top four teams in the conference host a playoff series with No. 5-8 on the road.

“We gave ourselves a chance. We did all we can do,” Huskies head coach Joe Shawhan said. “We still need help from people, but we did tonight what we can do. They’re going to be a hungry team tomorrow night. Tomorrow night could be for home ice between the two of us. I expect they’ll bounce back and give us their best. Hopefully we’re at our best.”

The Huskies also spoiled Northern Michigan’s Senior Night with the win. The Wildcats outshot Tech 16-8 in the third period, but the Huskies outscored them 4-1.

“That’s hockey sometimes,” Wildcats head coach Grant Potulny said.

Friday was the third time the Huskies beat the Wildcats this season. It was the first time Tech scored eight in a game since blanking Lake Superior State 8-0 on March 4, 2017. Friday tied for the most goals the Huskies scored against Northern. MTU last scored eight on the Wildcats on Feb. 12, 2013.

The Huskies (19-14-3, 14-11-2 WCHA) added four third-period goals for insurance in the win to overcome a whirlwind first period.

Tech was in command through most of the first period, taking a 3-0 lead, until taking two penalties to give the Wildcats a 5-on-3 late.

Northern Michigan (17-14-4, 15-11-1-1) made Tech pay with back-to-back power-play goals 29 seconds apart to make it a 3-2 game.

Jake Crespi and Logan Pietila were whistled for tripping and cross-checking, respectively.

Philip Beaulieu scored on a wrist shot from the top of the slot to make it a 3-1 game, with assists from Darien Craighead and Vincent de Mey. Tech senior co-captain Alex Smith also went to the box for interference.

Twenty-nine seconds later, Craighead scored his own goal, lifting a shot under the crossbar from in close to Huskies goaltender Matt Jurusik’s right, sending the nearly sold out crowd into a frenzy. Griffin Loughran and de Mey assisted the goal.

“The important thing is how we battled back,” Shawhan said. “We came out in the second period and got it going a little bit again. The biggest thing from tonight is that we learned some guys struggle a little bit but got through it and had some success and played better in third period than they did earlier. That’s a big deal. That’s part of the learning curve.”

Bliss scored nearly four minutes into the second for another Huskies’ two-goal lead.

The Wildcats stayed on their heels again. Loughran scored his 23rd goal of the season on a backdoor pass from Joseph Nardi with about seven minutes remaining.

Both teams scored a goal apiece in the second period.

Bliss scored his second goal five and a half minutes into the third. Broetzman, who made it 2-0 in the first, scored his second of the night and 16th of the season halfway through the third. As the Huskies celebrated, the crowd of 4,030 thinned out of the Berry Events Center.

De May added a goal to make it 7-4 before Bliss tipped the shot for his hat trick, further prompting the arena to thin out.

“To be able to put those up in the last weekend of the regular season heading into the playoffs, I think it gives some guys some good confidence. That’s key,” Huskies senior co-captain Ray Brice said of the eight-goal night. “Some of our top guys were really good tonight and I’m really proud of them for that.”

Smith scored to make it 3-0 in the first. Logan Ganie scored nearly five minutes into the third with Bliss’ second goal of the night following 40 seconds after.

The Wildcats got another 5-on-3 late in the game when Brian Halonen was penalized for tripping and Jurusik took a delay of game for flipping his mask off. Unlike in the first, the Wildcats were held scoreless and the Huskies celebrated the win soon after.

Jurusik made 34 saves for the win.

Northern Michigan goaltender Nolan Kent made 22 saves.

Puck drop is 6:07 p.m. Saturday at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

Scoring

MTU 3 1 4 — 8

NMU 2 1 1 — 4

First Period–1, MTU, Reitmeier (Crespi, Brice), 10:52. 2, MTU, Broetzman (Halonen, Gotz). 14:24, pp. 3, MTU, Smith (Halonen, Broetzman), 16:28. 4, NMU, Beaulieu (Craighead, de Mey), 17:59, pp. 5, NMU, Craighead (Loughran, Nardi), 18:28, pp. Penalties–NMU, Loughran (boarding), 12:43. MTU, L. Pietila (cross-checking), 17:12. MTU, Crespi (tripping), 17:12. MTU, Smith (interference), 17:59.

Second Period–6, MTU, Bliss (Ford, Parrottino), 3:41, pp. Penalties–NMU, Craighead (high-sticking), 2:29. NMU, Van Unen (hooking), 18:40.

Third Period–8, MTU, Ganie (Misiak), 4:47. 9, MTU, Bliss (Datema, Parrottino), 5:23. 10, MTU, Broetzman (Smith), 11:17, sh. 11, NMU, de Mey (Schultz, Voltin), 12:03. 12, MTU, Bliss (Parrottino, Swoyer), 16:51, pp. Penalties–MTU, Donohue (roughing), 10:45. NMU, Yaremko (slashing), 12:59. NMU, Schultz (cross-checking), 16:28. MTU, Halonen (tripping), 17:28. MTU, Jurusik (delay of game), 17:51.

Shots on Goal–MTU 12-10-8–30. NMU 11-11-16–38.

Power-play Opportunities–MTU 3 of 5. NMU 2 of 6.

Goalies–MTU, Jurusik 9-10-15–34. NMU, Kent 9-9-4–22.

Penalties-minutes–MTU 6-12. NMU 5-10.

A–4,030. T–2:21.

Referees–Robert Lukkason, Brady Johnson. Linesmen–Eric Froberg, Jamie Grace.