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Pietila stops 43 shots, Huskies beat Mavericks 3-1

HOUGHTON — During what has already been a strange season, the Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team took advantage of mistakes by No. 6 Minnesota State in a 3-1 win Sunday evening at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

Neither team had played in at least two weeks as the Mavericks (1-1-0) had their non-conference series with the Bemidji State Beavers cut short due to positive COVID-19 tests within their program. The Huskies (1-1-1) did not play last weekend because their opponent, the Northern Michigan Wildcats, also had a positive test in their program.

What ensued was a mistake-filled game where it came down to who took advantage of the other’s poor clear or penalty.

Of course, having a goaltender make 43 saves helps as well while out-dueling arguably the best goaltender in the WCHA. Huskies sophomore Blake Pietila did just that, stopping the first 42 shots he saw before giving up a goal with just 1:16 left in regulation.

The win was the first of Pietila’s career at Michigan Tech.

“It feels great to get my first (full) game in this season and my first win,” said Blake Pietila.

The Huskies broke a scoreless tie 15:13 into the opening frame when sophomore center Logan Ganie took advantage of a miscue in the Mavericks’ zone. Being chased down by Huskies freshman winger Carson Bantle on the forecheck, Mavericks defender Andy Carroll flung the puck into the slot with his backhand. Ganie pounced on the clearing attempt and wired a one-timer past Dryden McKay.

It was just what the Huskies’ coaching staff was looking for from the second year forward.

“We were on top of that puck,” said assistant coach Chris Brooks. “Logan wasn’t below that puck, he was on top of it. He put himself in a great spot to jump on a turnover.”

Looking to add to their lead early in the second period, the Huskies took advantage of a power play. After a puck battle in front of McKay led to the puck squirting into the corner near the Zamboni door, Huskies center Logan Pietila drove hard into Mavericks center Jake Jaremko. Jaremko attempted to clear the puck but did not get much of the puck as it bounced right to Huskies senior defenseman Tyler Rockwell.

Rockwell wasted little time feeding the puck to a waiting Eric Gotz. The junior blasted the puck over McKay’s blocker and into the net at 6:32. It proved to be the winning goal.

“It’s early in the season. We are trying to find things that work,” Gotz said. “After the first there, we kind of shuffled some things around. Coach worked with us and helped us find a combination that worked.”

The assistant captain is still getting used to his new defensive partner in Rockwell, but is excited to feel that he can trust his partner.

“We are getting comfortable with each other,” Gotz said. “We hadn’t really played much together last year. I think that is a big part of tandems, just working together as a pair.”

Blake Pietila stole the show from there. As the Mavericks began to push, he pushed back time and time again. Arguably, he made his best save of the night with 1:27 left in the middle frame when Mavericks forward Brendan Furry got loose in the slot. Furry made a move to his forehand and got around Pietila. In desperation, Pietila curled his right leg, stopping Furry’s shot from crossing the goalline.

The third period was more of the same from Pietila, as he robbed the Mavericks time and time again.

Reggie Lutz had two good looks on a power play, but both times Pietila shifted his body to make the saves look easy. Jared Spooner tried a wraparound. Walker Duehr redirected a shot-pass from Riese Zmolek. Each time, Pietila was there.

Zmolek had a one-timer from the slot later in the frame. Pietila again made the save look easier than it was.

“As you can see, he was rewarded tonight with a great effort,” said Brooks when asked about Blake Pietila. “He bailed us out on five or six Grade A scoring chances.”

The Mavericks finally found a way to get one past him with just 1:16 remaining when Dallas Gerads tipped a shot past him. The visitors could have built off the momentum created by the tally, if not for a penalty by Nathan Smith just 27 seconds later.

The Mavericks again pulled McKay for an extra skater, but this time, junior winger Brian Halonen sent the puck into the yawning cage with four seconds remaining, putting the game out of reach.

The teams will both be back in action at 5 p.m. Monday.

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