Michigan Tech winger Isaac Gordon celebrates after scoring a goal in the second period of a game against St. Thomas Saturday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — With a 2-0 loss on Friday and a 6-0 shutout win on Saturday, the Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team earned a split to close out the regular season with the St. Thomas Tommies. With the split, the Huskies improved to 15-14-6 on the season and 12-10-2 in CCHA play, which earned them a tie for second place in the conference standings with the Tommies.

However, the Tommies earned the second seed in the CCHA playoffs with the split. The Huskies will be the third seed.

SENIORS STAR IN 6-0 VICTORY

All seven senior skaters had at least a point as the Huskies scored two goals a period to earn a 6-0 win Saturday night at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

The Huskies needed the bounce back effort after a loss on Friday night.

“It was really important,” said Huskies coach Joe Shawhan. “I mean, we needed to (play better). We played well last night, but I just didn’t think we were sharp. The guys felt the same way. They talked about it today in our morning meeting that they just didn’t think that the emotion was where it needed to be. Tonight, the puck movement was good.”

The Huskies got on the board just 2:55 into the game when co-captain Logan Pietila buried a shot from the slot off a pass from freshman winger Isaac Gordon. Alternate captain Ryland Mosley also picked up an assist on the goal.

Senior center Blais Richartz then put the Huskies up 2-0 at 4:16 when he got a pass to the left of the net from freshman winger Henry Bartle and he beat Tommies goaltender Jake Sibell. Junior winger Alex Nordstrom also assisted on the goal.

Richartz was surprised that Bartle passed up the chance to score and instead passed it over.

“I think Nordy passed it up front to Henry Bartle, and honestly, I can’t believe he didn’t shoot the puck,” Richartz said. “I thought for sure he was shooting it. Then he passed it to me and I shot it and it went it. I came back, (I said,) ‘I thought you were shooting that, for sure.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, I mean, I just saw the white stick on there, so I passed it over to you.’ He didn’t realize it was me, but it worked out.”

The game remained 2-0 in favor of the Huskies until they got their first power play of the night in the middle frame. During the advantage, after a clear by the Tommies, senior defenseman Jed Pietila retrieved the puck and got it over to freshman defenseman Chase Pietila. Chase Pietila drove around a Tommies defender and backhanded a shot that hit Sibell, bounced up and over him and into the net at 7:05.

Gordon then put the Huskies up 4-0 with a wrist shot from the slot at 12:48 off a pass from Mosley. Gordon’s team-leading 16th goal of the season got over Sibell, but under the crossbar.

The Tommies turned to Friday night’s hero, Aaron Trotter, between the pipes after Gordon’s goal, and things settled down until the third period, when the Huskies’ offense chipped in again.

Junior center Levi Stauber, who was honored along with the team’s six other seniors as he will be graduating early, made it 5-0 7:20 into the third. After a shot from Chase Pietila rebounded into the corner, junior winger Marcus Pederson tracked the puck down and moved it quickly to senior winger Tyrone Bronte. Bronte got the puck over to Stauber, who fired a shot that bounced around and behind Trotter and in.

“We had like a 3-on-2 rush, and I kind of fumbled it, and then passed it back to Chase, who was coming in the zone and took a slap shot at the net,” Stauber said. “Bronte and Marcus were in there hacking and whacking, and it came out to me. I shot it on net. I think it hit the post, (bounced) off the goalie’s skate, and in.”

Freshman defenseman Nick Williams sealed the win for the Huskies in the latter stages when he scored his first career goal on the power play at 13:41. Co-captain Arvid Caderoth and Chase Pietila both earned assists on the goal. With the assist, Caderoth became the seventh different senior to pick up a point on the night.

From there, alternate captain Blake Pietila shut the door and held the Tommies off the scoreboard. He finished his night with 18 saves as he earned his 14th win of the season and 23rd career shutout in the process.

HUSKIES DROP FRIDAY GAME, 2-0

The Huskies started well on Friday night, but in the end, they could not sustain that effort for 60 minutes in a 2-0 loss to the Tommies.

Michigan Tech had the game’s first two shots on goal, and kept a lot of pressure up over the remainder of the opening frame, outshooting the Tommies 17-11, but they had nothing to show for it.

After that opening frame, the Huskies struggled to keep pressure mounting against Trotter and the defense in front of him.

“I didn’t feel a lot of life in, you know, I didn’t feel a lot of life overall in the building, and on the bench,” Shawhan said. “I know the guys are trying. I think there’s a lot on their minds, a lot of distractions. It showed up this week, I thought, in the way we practiced as well.

“So, I thought their goaltender played very well. I thought our goaltender played well. They made one shot and we didn’t make one. I don’t think we had a lot of second looks at the net, a lot of rebound plays. I didn’t think we made him move a lot to make saves. I thought they defended well.”

Trotter finished his night with 36 saves to earn the shutout.

Shawhan felt that the Huskies really struggled with how the Tommies defended.

“You have to fight through that, win battles on the walls, and create offense with that,” he said. “I did think we had some decent zone time, but I just think we were really challenged offensively tonight. We didn’t get much generated out of our depth.”

The Tommies broke through with just a minute left in the second period when Liam Malmquist pounced on a long rebound and buried a slap shot.

“They made a shot,” said Shawhan. “We had a defenseman that got caught for a long shift in the offensive zone, another player tired and then fell. All of a sudden they’re coming down on us. We didn’t come back with good funneling into our zone. We were kind of all over the place, a puck bounced loose, and outside the top of the circle and he made a shot. That was the difference in the game.”

The game remained 1-0 throughout the third period, despite more scoring chances for the Huskies, until the game’s final two minutes, when Shawhan pulled goaltender Blake Pietila for the extra attacker. The Huskies had all kinds of offensive zone time, but could not pull the trigger on shots that got through to Trotter.

With just seven seconds left in the contest, Matthew Gleason threw a loose puck down the rink and into the empty net.

Pietila made 25 saves in the loss for the Huskies.

UP NEXT

With the split, the Huskies sealed the third seed in the CCHA Tournament’s quarterfinal round. They will host Bowling Green State, who has lost their last four games, for a best-of-three series starting Friday night at 7:07 p.m. at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena. Saturday’s game is scheduled for 6:07 p.m. If a third game is necessary, the two teams will play Sunday at 5:07 p.m.