Of course, none of that mattered Friday night as the Gremlins played host to their rivals from across the canal, the Hancock Bulldogs, at Dee Stadium in the annual Wing Ding game. What started as an even contest turned into a rout as the Gremlins skated away with an 8-2 win.

The Gremlins (15-8-0, 9-1-0 GLHC) were amped up from the drop of the puck, playing front of their home crowd, and that excitement raised to a creciendo just 3:34 into the contest when senior center Carson Stevens punched a rebound up and over a sprawled goaltender Isaak Pietila to give the hosts an early 1-0 lead on an early power play.

Houghton's Carson Stevens (13) scores against Hancock goalie Isaak Pietila (1) on Friday, Feb. 14, 2020, in Houghton, Mich. Houghton's Niko Rajala (19), Ty Halonen (10) and Hancock's Chad Nordstrom (7) and Dominick Pizzi (3) follow the play. (Adam Niemi/The Daily Mining Gazette)

The goal was the first of six scored by the Gremlins’ seniors, including five by the line of Stevens, Tapani and Niko Rajala, on the night and just what head coach Corey Markham felt his team would need to be successful.

“I’ve been on our senior forwards a lot lately because they have to be your leaders,” he said. “If you want any success in high school, you’ve got to have a good senior group and (have them) step up and be leaders.

“I thought our senior line with Carson, Tucker and Nico stepped forward and I thought they were strong. They were making good plays.”

Bulldogs coach Dan Rouleau was not happy with the penalty whistled on his team, but felt that his group had a strong response, given that they evened things at 1-1 at 9:23. Sophomore winger Todd Anderson was the recipient of a rebound off a shot from sophomore defenseman Easton Sintkowki, which he batted past Gremlins goaltender Jimmy Pietila.

It was the type of response the Bulldogs needed.

The Houghton bench celebrates a goal against Hancock during the second period on Friday, Feb. 14, 2020, in Houghton, Mich. (Adam Niemi/The Daily Mining Gazette)

“I thought like the last half of the first instead of waking up a little bit,” Rouleau said. “I thought we had a really good second period, maybe even a shift to two in the third. Then it was all them after that. They started it on time and finished it on time and that was the difference in an 8-2 score.”

Stevens regained the lead for the Gremlins 6:06 into the second by driving hard to the net. However, the Bulldogs (11-12-0 overall, 3-7-0 GLHC) earned a power play a little over a minute later and responded with a goal from co-captain Petr Anderson at 9:02, who found a soft spot in the Houghton penalty kill and used that space to create a spot for co-captain Colton Salani to hit with a pass.

At that point, things looked to be just where Rouleau and the Bulldogs would want them to be.

“We just want to be able to show them we can compete with them, right?” said Rouleau. “We do at times, but we’ve got to shore up the other half when we don’t and that’s way too much (right now).”

Just two and a half minutes later, unfortunately, that all changed when senior center Tucker Tapani banged him the first of three goals he would score on the night. He added a pair in the third period, the first at 4:47 on the power play, which ended Isaak Pietila’s night in net, and the second at 8:55 to help push the game out of reach.

Corey Markham praised the play of sophomore defenseman Matthew Rowe, who set up Tapani’s third tally with a shot from the point.

“He (Tapani) got in position a lot and the puck was following him,” Corey Markham said. “On his hat trick goal, Matthew Rowe had a great shot from the point. (The) rebound came right to him with an empty net to shoot into. (It was) nice to see him get a hat trick and nice to see Matthew Rowe get an assist.”

The backbreaking goal for the Bulldogs came off the stick of co-captain Jiseung Choi on another Gremlins power play. Choi, who has bounced back and forth between center and defense all season, took a pass from freshman center Camden Markham and he fired a low shot through traffic that eluded Isaak Pietila at 13:33 of the middle frame.

The Gremlins got two more tallies in the third period. The first came off the stick of junior center Nathan Erva just 31 seconds into the frame.

The final came off the stick of winger Sully Rajala. The goal, which was the first of Rajala’s career, was assisted by both of his linemates, Camden Markham and Gaborik Carlson, all three of whom are freshmen.

The Gremlins return to action Tuesday as they host Calumet at Dee Stadium. The Bulldogs are also in action Tuesday as they face Marquette at the Houghton County Arena.

Hancock 1 1 0 — 2

Houghton 1 3 4 — 8

First Period–1, HHS, Stevens (Ty Halonen), 3:34, pp. 2, HCH, T. Anderson (Sintkowski), 9:23

Second Period–3, HHS, Stevens (Halonen), 6:06. 4, HCH, P. Anderson (C. Salani, Mikesch), 9:02, pp. 5, HHS, Tapani (Stevens), 11:31. 6, HHS, Choi (Markham), 13:33, pp.

Third Period–7, HHS, Erva, 0:31. 8, HHS, Tapani (Johnson), 4:47, pp. 9, HHS, Tapani (Rowe), 8:55. 10, HHS, S. Rajala (Carlson, Markham), 13:59.

Saves–HCH, I. Pietila 6-8-0–14. B. Pietila 0-0-6–6. HHS, Pietila 6-7-8–21.

Power-play Opportunities–HCH 0 of 1. HHS 3 of 5.

Penalties-minutes–HCH 7-14. HHS 3-6.