Michigan Tech forward Brayden Boehm (6) watches St. Thomas goaltender Aaron Trotter stop his shot during the first period of a game Saturday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — The Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team battled to a 3-3 tie Friday night, but dropped the extra CCHA point in the shootout to the St. Thomas Tommies at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena. Saturday, the Huskies struck first, but ultimately fell, 2-1.

With the tie and the loss, the Huskies fell to 8-6-2 overall and 5-3-2 in conference play.

Sardarian’s three points help Huskies to tie Friday

The Huskies and Tommies battled to a 3-3 tie Friday night. The Tommies earned the extra CCHA point with a win in the shootout.

Huskies coach Bill Muckalt liked the Huskies’ special teams efforts throughout the game, and felt like it was a bright spot.

“Got in penalty trouble the first two periods,” he said. “I thought they were pushing. I liked our (penalty) kill. I thought the third period was our best period. Special teams were really a bright spot for us tonight, the kill, and picking up a couple power play goals.

“Obviously, comes down to little things. We took a penalty with a minute, four seconds left to make it instead of 6-on-5 for the last minute and five seconds or four seconds, it’s 5-on-4.

It’s a big deal. It’s a lack of discipline. Cost us dearly.”

Michigan Tech got three points from senior forward Stiven Sardarian, who also took three penalties.

“Obviously, (he) generates. He’s a catalyst on the power play, makes plays,” said Muckalt. “I know he’s a better player when he’s on ice. He does great things for us.”

Sardarian’s first point was an assist on a power play goal by freshman defenseman Reid Andresen 7:38 into the contest. Andresen took a pass from freshman forward Teydon Trembecky near the top of the right circle. Andresen skated the puck to the middle of the two circles and fired a wrist shot that found the net.

Sardarian’s second point came on a goal 7:06 into the second period. Alternate captain Max Koskipirtti picked up a pass from captain Isaac Gordon, then found Sardarian driving hard up the right side of the rink. Sardarian fired a wrist shot through the legs of the defender closest to him, which surprised Tommies goaltender Carson Musser.

“On my first goal, there was a really good pass by Koskipirtti, and I see I kind of beat the first guy, and I see the (defender) kind of skate a little low,” Sardarian said. “So, I know what to do in this situation. I usually try to do a fake shot and shoot between the defenseman’s skates, so goalie, he’s not able to see this shot. It’s always dangerous.

“It’s just what I tried to do. I even didn’t see it was a goal. I kind of was confused, because the defenseman was in front of me, but I kind of saw it was close, but I was a little confused.”

The Tommies struck twice in the late stages of the middle frame to pull even. The first came off the stick of Lucas Van Vliet at 15:29, and the other off of defenseman Nick Williams’ stick on a wrist shot from the middle of the blue line at 19:05.

Sardarian put the Huskies back ahead in the third period with his second goal of the game at 6:41. With Michigan Tech on the man advantage, Sardarian got a pass from freshman forward Noah Reinhart while he was in the left circle. Sardarian looked quickly and beat Musser with another wrist shot.

If there were negatives through the first two periods for the Huskies, they were Sardarian’s three penalties and the fact that they had 10 shots on goal through 40 minutes. They solved the second issue in the third period, throwing 11 shots at Musser, but only the one went in.

In the late stages of the period, a scrum after a whistle led to the Huskies and Tommies each losing a skater due to penalties.

The Tommies won a crucial faceoff in the dying seconds and Van Vliet buried a rebound to force overtime.

In the extra session, both teams had looks, but neither scored, sending the game to a shootout.

Van Vliet earned the extra point for the Tommies by beating junior goaltender Owen Bartoszkiewicz with a wrist shot in the shootout.

Bartoszkiewicz made 38 saves in the tie. Musser stopped 20 for the Tommies.

Huskies fall Saturday as Tommies score twice

Saturday night, the Huskies took their coach’s words to heart and had a strong start. They struck first, but surrendered two goals before the second period ended in a 2-1 loss.

Muckalt liked a lot of what he saw from his team.

“You’re seeing how small the margin for error is between winning and losing,” he said. “We’re finding out the hard way here, the last two weekends. Really liked our effort. Didn’t like some of the penalties. They were uncharacteristic. (It) takes a lot of energy to kill. I thought our kill was great. Our power play was really good Friday, we didn’t capitalize Saturday, and we had a catastrophic turnover. That ended up being the difference in the game.”

The Huskies jumped out to a 6-0 lead in shots in the opening minutes, but could not find the back of the net until the first minute of the second period.

Freshman defenseman Kalem Parker found the net just 38 seconds into the period on a wrist shot from the right point through traffic. Gordon and sophomore defenseman Tyler Miller both assisted on the goal.

Michigan Tech was whistled for back-to-back penalties just over a minute apart and during the ensuing 5-on-3 penalty kill, alternate captain Joe Prouty blocked a shot with his helmet.

Muckalt said Prouty, who sat out the rest of the game, was OK.

“He’s just a warrior,” Muckalt said. “He’s such a great guy. I’m not surprised. Take the helmet off him, he’ll block it again. He’s that guy.

“He’ll do whatever it takes to win. Love coaching him. He’s a huge part of this group.”

The Huskies killed off the two-man advantage, but during the one-man advantage, Williams passed the puck to Jake Braccini, who one-timed a shot. Senior defenseman Kasper Vaharautio blocked the attempt, but the puck bounced to Alex Gaffney, who buried it at 7:52.

During a Michigan Tech power play, the Tommies took advantage of a forward playing defense. Trembecky got the puck at the right point, but Van Vliet knocked it away from him and took off on a breakaway from his own blue line. Van Vliet deked to his backhand and beat Bartoszkiewicz at 10:48.

From there, the Huskies pressed through the second half of the second period and the third, but could not find the equalizer.

Bartoszkiewicz made 26 saves in the loss. Aaron Trotter stopped 29 shots to earn the win for the Tommies.

Up next

The Huskies have a bye week next week before traveling to face Ferris State on Dec. 12 and 13 in Big Rapids.