Michigan Tech forward Max Koskipirtti attempts to pass the puck during a game against Ferris State Friday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — The Michigan Tech Huskies gave up two power play goals on the weekend, but scored nine straight goals over the course of the two games to earn their first sweep of the season and first sweep for new head coach Bill Muckalt as the Huskies took two games from the Ferris State Bulldogs at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

“Anytime you can sweep, that’s the recipe, right? It’s hard to sweep in college hockey,” said Huskies coach Bill Muckalt. “It’s hard to get separation. There’s a lot of parity.

“Sometimes you forget how hard you have to work. But, I was really proud of our team in the third period (Saturday), especially the last 10, 12 minutes. I thought we settled down and really weathered the storm.”

With the wins, the Huskies improved to 4-2 on the season and 2-0 in CCHA play.

Senior forward Stiven Sardarian finished the weekend with four assists to lead the way for Michigan Tech. He leads the Huskies with nine assists through six games.

Huskies score four straight to earn win Saturday

The Huskies scored the game’s first four goals Saturday as Michigan Tech earned a 4-2 win over the Bulldogs.

“I was really proud of (how) we got up, we made some plays, and we executed on those plays,” said Muckalt. “That gave us some separation, but we got into penalty trouble. We have to learn to move our feet. A lot of reaching penalties, so we have to clean that up.”

Alternate captain Max Koskipirtti got things started for the Huskies just 9:29 into the game, as he drove hard to the net, got around a Bulldogs’ defender and one-timed a pass from Sardarian to beat Ferris State goaltender Hobie Hedquist.

Freshman forward Michael Cicek put the Huskies up 2-0 at 17:38 of the opening frame when he took a pass from Sardarian in the slot, turned quickly and fired a wrist shot that beat Hedquist.

In the second period, the Huskies continued pressing, and were rewarded quickly.

Just 1:11 in, sophomore center Tom Leppa got the puck behind the Bulldogs’ net. He carried it out along the right boards before feeding it to alternate captain Joe Prouty at the right point. Prouty fired a shot that sophomore forward Carson Latimer tipped past Hedquist from the right side of the slot.

For Cicek and Latimer, the goals were their first as Huskies.

“We have 13 freshmen, so every game they’re going to get a little bit more confidence, get a little bit more their feet under them,” Muckalt said. “So, that maturing, that learning process, we can see areas in games, but for them, this weekend, they were huge.”

Michigan Tech’s offense wasn’t done yet. While shorthanded, freshman defenseman Kalem Parker made a read on a puck in the defensive zone and picked off a pass. He took off from the top of the circle in his own end, skated in alone on Hedquist and beat him with a wrist shot through the legs at 4:09.

Parker was more worried about getting down the ice with speed than where he was going to shoot.

“I was just hoping to beat that guy first and foremost, just trying to get a clear-cut breakaway,” he said, “and then lucked out at the last second. Tried to go low blocker, but it went five-hole.”

That goal ended Hedquist’s night.

On the same power play, the Bulldogs broke through just under a minute later when Riley Wallack batted a rebound past junior goaltender Owen Bartoszkiewicz at 5:01.

The Bulldogs struck once more late in the period when Josh Zary fired a wrist shot from the slot that found the net at 16:10.

In the third period, Bartoszkiewicz stopped all eight shots sent his way to keep the Huskies in the lead. He finished his night with 28 saves.

Hedquist made six saves for the Bulldogs with Martin Lundberg stopping 11 in relief.

Huskies use four-goal second period to win Friday

The Huskies fell behind early, but rattled off five straight goals, including four in the middle frame, to earn a 5-1 win over the Ferris State Bulldogs Friday night to open CCHA play.

“I liked that we were able to just stay with it,” said Muckalt. “First period was a little vanilla. They got a power play goal, but it was a pretty tight-checking thing. Then, I think, in the second period, we started to establish a lot of chances and play fast, play quick. Started to really take control of the game. We were rewarded for that. So, it was a real big difference in the hockey game.”

The Huskies high-flying second period was sparked by a goal from freshman forward Teydon Trembecky just 57 seconds into the period, when he took advantage of a turnover at the offensive blue line and exploded back into the zone with the puck before beating Hedquist with a wrist shot.

“I don’t know, (I) just kind of a little bit of a turnover at the blue line, and I kind of looked over, saw a guy on the far side, but (the defense) man kind of took him,” said Trembecky, “so, I kind of decided to take it to the net, and saw a little blocker there. It was lucky enough to go in.”

A few shifts later, freshman forward Brayden Boehm kept the momentum going when he took a pass off the boards from sophomore center Tom Leppa. Boehm made a move around a Bulldogs defenseman, and then cut to the net, beating Hedquist with a deke to his backhand at 4:11.

The Huskies drew a power play and continued to press their advantage. This time, Trembecky struck again. After working a one-timer off a pass from freshman defenseman Reid Andresen, he got another look and blasted another shot that Hedquist stopped. The rebound bounced all the way back to him, and he buried it at 7:21.

The goal was Trembecky’s second power play goal of the season.

“It’s a little bit of a combination of what the penalty kill has given us, and kind of where we go in, in that kind of point, I guess,” he said. “But, just kind of trying to put it on net when you take those one-timers. Lucky enough, a couple go in.”

Trembecky wasn’t done yet. After a forecheck that saw Cicek force a pass into the feet of Ferris State forward Tanner Rowe, he got the puck to Trembecky. Trembecky looked to shoot, but saw captain Isaac Gordon crashing the net. Trembecky hit Gordon with a pass for a one-timer of his own at 11:20.

The Huskies held that 4-1 lead into the third period before freshman Noah Reinhart batted a rebound past Hedquist on another Huskies’ power play at 2:22, which provided the insurance the Huskies needed to finish the game.

Bartoszkiewicz stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced to earn his third win of the season. The only puck that beat him was on a first-period power play at 13:33 off the stick of Jack Mesic.

“We just stuck to our structure,” Bartoszkiewicz said. “We played together. I didn’t see it (the goal), so it’s kind of tough to say when you don’t see it at all, but (I) talked to the goalie coach, just seal it up if you don’t see anything.

“We kind of figured it out on the ‘PK’ (penalty kill). We dialed it in the rest of the game.”

Andresen finished with two assists, as did Sardarian.

Up next

The Huskies return to the road this weekend for a pair of games in New York against Clarkson and St. Lawrence.