Sometimes, a huge save at one end of the rink leads to a goal at the other end. The No. 18 Michigan Tech Huskies had a great save from Jamie Phillips late in overtime to keep the game tied. Just after the save, the Huskies scooted down the ice on a two-on-one and winger Malcolm Gould scored the game-winner, as the Huskies topped the visiting Ferris State Bulldogs, 5-4, at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena Friday night.
“Jamie made that big save and we were lucky to turn around the other way,” said Gould. “I was kind of thinking pass the whole way. The [defenseman] kind of came at me at the last minute, so I thought I would just shoot it. I don’t even know where it went in. I just kind of got lucky.”
Gould took a lead pass from winger Tyler Heinonen and skated in alongside center C.J. Eick. Instead of passing the puck, Gould made the last-second decision to shoot it, beating Charles Williams cleanly for the game-winner.
Phillips had stopped Gerald Mayhew, the reigning Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s offensive player of the week, on a breakaway thanks to a Huskies’ turnover just prior to the scoring chance.
“I am happy we found a way to win the game,” said Huskies coach Mel Pearson. “It was frantic out there tonight. [There were] a lot of things going on in the game. We have to learn to manage the puck better.”
The Huskies opened the game by getting the puck to winger Brent Baltus, who crossed the blue line and fired a long shot on Williams just six seconds in. Less than a minute later, the Huskies challenged Williams again when center C.J. Eick took a pass and slid a shot past Williams, but the shot also missed the net to the far side.
About four minutes in, Gould fed the puck across the slot to winger Heinonen, who blasted a one-timer, but again Williams made the save.
The Bulldogs’ first good scoring chance came from Jared VanWormer, who got in close to Phillips, who made the save. A minute and a half later, VanWormer found a way to beat Phillips.
Bulldogs captain Kyle Schempp dumped the puck in, and it hit the glass near the Zamboni door and kicked out in front while Phillips skated behind the net, leaving VanWormer with a wide-open goal to score in at 8:17.
“We had a good push at the start,” said Bulldogs assistant coach Drew Famulak. “There were some ebbs and flows, but I think that is going to happen. It’s a game of inches. I just told the guys to park it, this is October. We will be ready to go [tonight].”
The Bulldogs struck again when a scoring chance for the Huskies sailed wide and right to the Bulldogs’ defenders. Matt Robertson took a long pass from Mayhew and fired a long shot on Phillips. The rebound kicked right back to him, and he lifted the second shot over Phillips.
Heinonen cut the lead in half with a nice deke to his forehand as he beat Williams at 18:04. Defenseman Mark Auk assisted on the goal.
A turnover in the defensive zone allowed the Bulldogs to regain the two-goal lead. Mayhew picked up the puck and fed a perfect pass across the front of the net to Andrew Dorantes, who caught the pass and deposited the puck in the goal at 19:23.
Neither team could get much going offensively in the first four minutes of the second period until co-captain Alex Petan intercepted a clearing pass from a Bulldogs’ defender and skated in alone on Williams, who made the stop on a wrist shot.
On the ensuing shift, the Huskies (3-2-0 overall, 3-2-0 WCHA) cut the Bulldogs’ lead to one. Defenseman Dane Birks picked up the puck near the offensive blue line and fed the puck to winger Alex Gillies, who cut to the slot and fired an innocent-looking wrist shot that sailed up quicker than Williams expected it to. The goal came at 5:34.
The Huskies kept the pressure on and struck again 27 seconds later when C.J. Eick got the puck in left circle and fired a wrister on goal, which Williams tracked well. Just before he could play it, however, winger Joel L’Esperance tipped the puck, which was in the air, up over Williams’ glove for the equalizing tally.
The Bulldogs (2-2-1 overall, 1-1-1 WCHA) had the bulk of the better scoring chances after the two Huskies’ tallies. Dorantes had one long shot off a pass from Ryan Lowney. Two minutes later, Mitch Maloney fed the puck to Chad McDonald, but his long shot was also stopped by Phillips. The rebound eventually found its way back to McDonald, but his backhand was stopped.
The Bulldogs broke the tie with 2:55 remaining in the middle frame when Tyler Andrew fired a long shot in on Phillips. The Huskies’ netminder made the save, but the rebound kicked over to Corey Mackin. Phillips stopped his initial chance, but not the rebound.
The Bulldogs came out hard in the third period and had one really strong shift in which Zach Szajner fired a shot on net that Phillips stopped. The rebound went to Sean O’Rourke, who was also stopped.
The Huskies tied the game for the second time when defenseman Matt Roy kept the puck in at the right point. He looked toward the slot and fired a shot through traffic that beat Williams at 5:33.
