David Archambeau/For the Gazette The Gremlins’ Aaron Kogan (19), Camden Markham (9), Kade Farrell (4), Landon Stevens (13) and Gaborik Carlson (8) celebrate a goal during the semifinals of the John MacInnes Holiday Hockey Classic in December at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton.

HOUGHTON — After a wild John MacInnes Holiday Hockey Classic in late December that saw the Houghton Gremlins hockey team storm back from a 6-2 deficit in the semifinals against the North Fond du Lac Cardinals before falling 3-2 in the championship game against the Calumet Copper Kings, and with a pair of downstate squads in town, head coach Corey Markham had one goal in mind for his team: move your feet.

His team did just that, downing the Northville Mustangs, 4-1, Friday and the Novi Wildcats, 9-1, on Saturday at Dee Stadium.

The Gremlins kept the pressure on, something they were looking to do.

“(It’s the) No. 1 goal and the No. 1 talking point whenever these, especially a team that you haven’t…we haven’t played Northville here before,” said Gremlins coach Corey Markham. “Getting pucks in and just forechecking hard. We (have) good speed and teams aren’t used to seeing that speed and being on a smaller rink where we’re on top of them right away.

“A lot of times teams are surprised with how quick we’re on top of (them), because the rink is smaller and then being a fast-skating team. I thought we did a good job of that.”

Both games, the Gremlins used a big second period to drive the score out of reach.

Gremlins outshoot, out score Mustangs, 4-1

Looking to take advantage of a power play that stretched into the second period Friday night, the Gremlins did just that, scoring three goals in a stretch of 4:13 to turn a scoreless game into a 3-1 advantage for the hosts. From there, they continued to pour as many pucks on goal as they could, finding the net once more in the third to post a 4-1 win over the Mustangs.

Just seconds into the middle frame, senior defenseman Aaron Kogan jumped on a puck in the offensive zone. He took a quick look and then sent a pass over to junior winger Landon Stevens, who buried a power play marker at :08.

After struggling to find the net in the first period, Corey Markham considered making changes to the power play during the first intermission. In hindsight, the decision not to make changes proved the better choice.

“We were going to change our formation a little bit, but obviously, we hopped on a loose puck, and it just ended up a 2-on-1, pretty much, from the top of the circles in,” Markham said. “Aaron made a great pass to Landon.”

Sophomore center Michael Maillette was rewarded for a good puck retrieval just 1:16 later when he drove from the right corner out front and stuffed a puck past Mustangs goaltender Dylan Eliason, putting Houghton up 2-0.

Mustangs coach Gordie Brown admitted his team does not see aggressive competition like what the Gremlins (9-4 overall) threw at his Northville squad often.

“They came aggressive,” Brown said. “They do a good job getting the puck deep and having the speed. What we tend to do is we want to get the puck, then look around and make a decision if we’re going to pass or skate. We have to work on, and learn from, this game.

“When we’re heading to the puck, I (have to) shoulder check twice. I already (have) to have my two options. Wingers have to come back harder to be a quick 12-foot, 15-foot pass, not a rim play.”

Brown went on to describe what makes the Gremlins tough to play against.

“Then, even if it’s a rim play, their defense are filling up, coming up with speed, and they’re filling the back,” he said. “They’re pinching hard to keep the layers in, because they know that they trust their forwards to get back high to be a good F3 to take away any breakout plays.”

The Mustangs responded with a tally of their own just 34 seconds after Maillette’s goal when Zach Holstad’s shot trickled through Gremlins goaltender Bryant Lee, but that was as close as they would get.

Looking for a response, Corey Markham’s squad got just that on a Mustangs power play less than two minutes after their goal. Co-captain Kade Farrell sprung co-captain Camden Markham, who got behind the Mustangs’ defense, skated in alone and beat Eliason at 4:21, snuffing out any momentum the visitors may have drummed up.

The score remained 3-1 thanks to several key saves by Eliason, who looked cool and calm throughout the night, finishing with 41 saves on 45 Houghton shots.

Houghton finally broke through a final time while on the man advantage in the third. Stevens got the puck in the right circle and drove towards the net, appearing to look for an opening to shoot. Instead, he made a pass across the slot to Camden Markham, who buried a quick wrister at 9:07, sealing the win for the Gremlins.

Lee, a sophomore, made 17 saves on the night en route to the win for Houghton.

Scoring

NOR 0 1 0 – 1

HHS 0 3 1 – 4

First period

None

Second period

1, HHS, Landon Stevens (Aaron Kogan), PP, :08; 2, HHS, Michael Mailette, 1:22; 3, NOR, Zach Holstad (Connor Vissotski), 1:56; 4, HHS, Camden Markham (Kade Farrell), SH, 4:21.

Third period

5, HHS, Markham (Stevens), PP, 9:07.

Saves – Eliason, NOR, 13-14-14=41; Lee, HHS, 6-4-7=17

Power plays – NOR: 0/4; HHS: 2/4

Penalties – NOR: 4/11; HHS: 4/8

Gremlins cruise to 9-1 win over Novi

Saturday, the Gremlins got some reinforcements back as junior winger Sully Rajala returned to the lineup for the first time this season. Rajala scored the first and last goals for the Gremlins in their 9-1 victory over the Wildcats.

He was not the only Gremlins skater with multiple points. Camden Markham added two goals and an assist. Stevens struck three times and picked up an assist as well.

Rajala opened the scoring for the Gremlins at 12:30 of the first period during a 4-on-4 situation. Farrell skated the puck into the deep right circle before feeding the puck over to Rajala, who was crashing the net, to set up the tally.

Camden Markham stretched the lead with a rebound goal at 14:02.

Stevens got things going for the Gremlins in the middle frame by burying a rebound off a shot from Farrell at the right point. His second came on the power play at 8:46 before getting his third during a goalmouth scramble at 15:17. Stevens’ assist came on Camden Markham’s second goal of the contest at 10:50.

“It’s been a shot in the arm for Landon,” said Corey Markham about moving him to the top line. “He’d been struggling offensively this year. We were trying to find a combination of who could play left wing the best with Camden and Gaborik (Carlson). So we slid him in there in the holiday tournament, and he was strong. (He had) a really strong weekend here.”

Freshman defenseman Oscar Peterson scored his first career goal at 16:16, when his shot from the left point snuck through several pairs of legs and past Wildcats goaltender Kyle Gilger.

For Corey Markham, seeing Peterson, who works very hard in practice, get rewarded was the icing on a very good weekend’s cake.

“Always excited when a kid gets his first high school goal,” he said. “Oscar’s had some ups and downs as a freshman here. He’s learning on the job. He’s an important player for us. For him to find his first was awesome. (I’m) really excited for him.”

Senior defenseman Ryan Vlahos, who was playing forward this weekend, scored his first goal of the season at 11:48.

Novi scored their only goal of the day on the powerplay at 9:18 of the middle frame. For the Wildcats, the goal was just their fifth on the season on the man advantage, which was something for coach Mark Vellucci’s team to be proud of.

“I think our power play been like, 4-for-60 this year,” Vellucci said. “He held the puck in there. His parents are from the U.P. here. That was his first goal.”

Junior Troy Povich made two saves to earn the win for the Gremlins.

Scoring

NOV 0 1 0 – 1

HHS 2 7 0 – 9

First period

1, HHS, Sully Rajala (Kade Farrell, Jace Deforge), 12:30; 2, HHS, Camden Markham (Landon Stevens), 14:02.

Second period

3, HHS, Stevens (Farrell), 3:16; 4, HHS, Stevens (Markham, Farrell), PP, 8:46; 5, NOV, Luke Londo, PP, 9:18; 6, HHS, Markham (Stevens, Gaborik Carlson), 10:50; 7, HHS, Ryan Vlahos (Connor Raffaelli), 11:48; 8, HHS, Stevens (Markham), 15:17; 9, HHS, Oscar Peterson, 16:16; 10, HHS, Rajala (Vlahos, Peterson), 16:57.

Third period

None.

Saves – Gilger, NOV, 9-9-0=18; Povich, HHS, 0-2-0=2

Power plays – NOV: 1/2; HHS: 1/3

Penalties – NOV:4/8; HHS:2/7