Michigan Tech forward Levi Stauber takes a wrist shot during a game against St. Thomas Saturday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

Huskies give up game late Saturday

HOUGHTON — Hockey is not, by any means, an easy game. The No. 13 Michigan Tech Huskies found that out in spades Saturday night in a 3-2 loss to the St. Thomas Tommies at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in a game where the Tommies had an answer for everything the Huskies did all night long.

Michigan Tech twice had one-goal leads, but at the end of the night, it was a 2-on-1 between Luc Laylin and Josh Eernisse that lifted the Tommies into a split as Laylin redirected a pass from Eernisse past Huskies goaltender Blake Pietila with just 3:33 left in regulation.

Pietila, the reigning Goaltender of the Week in the CCHA, stopped 43 of 46 shots he faced on the weekend, but it was just not quite enough.

“We got great goaltending tonight and this weekend,” said Huskies coach Joe Shawhan when discussing the efforts of his goaltender.

With Pietila playing as well as he has, Shawhan feels that his team is in the position they are in because of the way his fourth-year starter has performed.

“We don’t dominate anybody,” Shawhan said. “They’re all like this, and we’ve come out on top on more of these games than we have. If we score tonight, it’s just prolonging things. We’re getting a lot out of our guys. We’re getting a lot, and I give them a ton of credit. But, the reality is at some point, the cream rises to the top. Our depth caught up with us a bit tonight.”

The Huskies took the lead just 2:41 into the contest when sophomore winger Levi Stauber took a pass from junior defenseman Jed Pietila and buried a wrist shot that beat Tommies goaltender Aaron Trotter over the glove and off the post.

For Stauber, the goal was his second of the year and first at home.

“It feels good to be able to do that, for sure,” he said. “I’ve been working hard, so it’s showing, it’s paying off.”

Freshman defenseman Evan Orr finished off the Huskies’ second goal 12:25 into the second period when he jumped into the slot and buried a rebound chance off a shot from freshman center Kash Rasmussen.

Both of the Tommies first two goals came off of faceoffs in the Huskies’ zone.

The first came at 14:17 of the opening frame when Jake Bracchini got the puck off the draw, skated around the top of the right circle and beat Pietila with a wrist shot. The second came at 14:21 of the second period when Luke Manning won the draw back to Trevor Zins. Zins quickly made a pass to Carson Peters in the middle of the blue line and he ripped a shot that was tipped in by Eernisse.

“What they did is they won draws,” Shawhan said. “When we won draws, they were out blocking it. They win draws, we don’t get out for the block. They get shot through it, and we don’t get to tie up in front of the net. So, we lost the draw clean. So, it’s, to me, attention to detail.”

Pietila made 19 saves in the loss.

Huskies earn shutout win on Friday

HOUGHTON — For nearly 49 minutes Friday, the Huskies and Tommies played to a standstill. Over the game’s final 11 minutes, the Huskies struck twice to skate away with a 2-0 win at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

Trotter held the Huskies off the board for 48:49 while Pietila did the same at the other end of the rink, however, a pass from senior defenseman Jake Crespi to senior center Parker Saretsky helped create a situation where Saretsky got behind the Tommies’ defense.

Saretsky skated alone, deked to his backhand and beat Trotter at 8:49.

Considering the Huskies spent the Christmas and New Year holiday break on the road in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Tempe, Arizona, and then had to jump into classes as soon as they returned to Houghton, the slow start was something the team knew could happen.

“I think the first two periods weren’t the type of game we wanted to necessarily play, but after a long road trip, and a short Christmas break, and coming off that high on that Desert Classic win, I think it was an overall good effort and good win for the team,” said Saretsky.

Shawhan was also not surprised by the effort level his team showed for 40 minutes.

“I know it was going to be a tough game,” he said. “I knew guys were tired. They were talking about being tired during the week. We were tired in practice during the week and it’s understandable. We were (gone) two weeks on a long trip, and back here doing classes, trying to get back into the routine.

“That was a really big game for our team this year.”

The Huskies struck again late in the contest when senior winger Tristan Ashbrook took a pass in the neutral zone from Rasmussen, skated around the Tommies’ defense and deposited a puck into the empty net with 2:27 left in the contest.

Shawhan also praised the efforts of Blake Pietila, who made 27 saves to earn his fifth shutout of the year.

“I think if we have an average goaltender, it’s a different game,” he said. “We don’t. We have a great goaltender, and I thought he was great. He certainly did his job.”

Up next

The Huskies head back out on the road this coming weekend to face the Ferris State Bulldogs.