Huskies hockey bounces back Saturday to earn split with Lakers
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HOUGHTON -- After dropping a 2-1 game Friday night, the No. 14 Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team bounced back Saturday with a 5-2 win to earn a split with the Lake Superior State Lakers at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
With the split, the Huskies are 7-3-2 overall and 2-2-2 in CCHA play.
Helping lead the way for the Huskies throughout the weekend was sophomore forward Teydon Trembecky, who had an assist Friday night, and added two more Saturday.
Huskies 5, Lakers 2
The Huskies carried a 2-0 lead into the third period Saturday before the two teams traded goals over the first 6:11. From there, the Huskies added one more late into an empty net to seal a 5-2 win.
Huskies coach Bill Muckalt made a number of lineup changes prior to game time, and the decision paid large dividends for Michigan Tech.
"Pucks went in a little bit easier," he said, with a smile. "I thought we did a much better job with starting on time. Give them credit, they’re a good hockey team. There’s not as much separation from top to bottom in this league. You see how hard it is, how competitive it is.
"I really like some of the guys that got inserted. They took advantage of the opportunity. They’re doing what we’re asked. They’re managing pucks, they’re creating chances."
Looking to build on their two-goal lead, the Huskies did just that 1:41 into the third period, when sophomore forward Matthew Van Blaricom scored on a wrist shot from the high slot.
The Lakers responded just 18 seconds later, when Carter Batchelder struck from the right corner. He tried to pass the puck into the slot, but it instead found Huskies freshman defenseman Morgan Brady's skate, and bounced past alternate captain Owen Bartoszkiewicz.
Sophomore forward Noah Reinhart, who scored the game's opening goal at 15:40 of the opening frame, responded with his second goal of the game at 3:23. He took a pass from Trembecky and beat Andrew Oke with a wrist shot from a very similar spot to where Van Blaricom scored from. Co-captain Max Koskipirtti also assisted on the tally.
The Lakers answered Reinhart's second goal when Charles Savoie fired a shot that bounced off the post and past Bartoszkiewicz at 6:11.
Both teams settled down from there, and neither team found the net again, despite the both squads having shifts with sustained pressure.
Lake Superior State pulled Oke with just under three minutes left, but the move backfired almost immediately as sophomore forward Reid Daavettila used a second effort to get a scoring chance, which he buried into the empty net at 17:12, sealing the win for the home team. Senior forward Owen Baker picked up an assist on the goal.
Reinhart's first goal that put the Huskies up 1-0 was assisted by Trembecky, who dropped the puck to him as he skated into the high slot. Reinhart had to shake off a Lakers' defender and he managed to beat Oke with a wrist shot.
The game remained 1-0 into the second period, and the Huskies continued to apply pressure in the middle frame, drawing a power play at 13:44. While they did not score on the advantage, they kept the pressure on until freshman forward Tristan Delisle scored his first career goal by knocking a rebound off a shot from sophomore forward Michael Cicek hit sophomore defenseman Kalem Parker and bounced to Delisle at 16:48.
"I mean, it feels good," Delisle said. "Went through 12 games without a goal, but it finally feels good to get the first. Now I could maybe gain some momentum here and keep going.
"I’m super happy with the way I’ve been playing recently, and it feels nice to be rewarded."
Bartoszkiewicz made 24 saves to earn the win. Oke stopped 22 in the loss.
Lakers 2, Huskies 1
The Huskies dropped the Friday night matchup with the Lakers after both teams skated into the third period without either team finding the back of the net.
The Huskies were down 23-19 in shots by the end of the first 40 minutes, and Muckalt did not pull any punches about how he felt about his team's effort.
"The first period was really disappointing," he said. "Way too many passengers. Uncharacteristic of our group. Not going to win any hockey games starting like that. But, I thought we got better. Second period, we were good. I thought we were good in the third period. Had the lead, and then we did a really poor job of managing the game, and took a really poor penalty. We paid the price for it."
The Huskies did take a brief lead with just 4:37 left in the contest when junior forward Connor Roulette drove the net and converted a pass from Trembecky into a power play goal. Parker also assisted on the tally as he found Trembecky in the right circle.
However, exactly one minute later, disaster struck. Bartoszkiewicz left his crease to play a bouncing puck which managed to elude him. In the chaos that ensued, the Huskies lost Batchelder, who buried the puck into the empty net at 16:23.
"Yeah, bouncing puck," Muckalt said. "I’d have to look at it again. But, in hindsight, I think it’s easy, maybe we could have froze that. There was contact, but he was out of the crease, so it wouldn’t have been goaltender interference. Unfortunately, they capitalized on that turnover."
Things only got worse for the Huskies from there. Trembecky was whistled for a slashing penalty at 17:28, putting the Lakers on their first power play of the night, and it proved deadly when Casper Nassen found room behind Bartoszkiewicz and he redirected as pass from Savoie into the net at 18:17.
The Huskies did appear to take a 1-0 lead at 17:51 of the first period when Brady took a pass from Trembecky along the left boards. Brady then drove along the bottom of the left circle and fired a shot on net that Andrew Oke stopped. However the puck bounced off of Brady as he continued to drive the net and bounced through Oke and in. However, upon a lengthy review, the goal was overturned.
"They called it a goal on ice," Muckalt said. "The puck was there, went off of Morgan’s skate. Then there was contact as the puck was going in. I think if it was a continuation play, it would have counted."
Bartoszkiewicz made 27 saves in the loss. Oke stopped 33 to earn the win for the Lakers.
Up next
The Huskies head back out on the road. They travel to Mankato, Minnesota, to face Minnesota State.