SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – Coming into the Saturday night game against the Alaska Nanooks, Lake Superior State forward J.T. Henke sat tied with Minnesota State’s C.J. Seuss with 13 conference points.
With the game tied in the third period, the senior forward from Trenton, Michigan, came up big when his team needed him to, as he netted the game winner to rally the Lakers (4-9-3, 3-5-2 WCHA) past the Nanooks (5-11-2, 3-8-1 WCHA) by a 4-1 score.
“I thought guys played. We didn’t have any passengers, guys showed up and played hard,” said Lakers head coach Damon Whitten. ”We had much better urgency and intensity, so I’m happy about that.
“To have a four goal third period is huge. We haven’t been overly proficient offensively, so to get that first one and get rolling is huge.”
22 minutes worth of penalties were called between the two clubs in the first two periods, as both teams came out playing very physical. The third period, however, saw only one penalty – a too many players call against Alaska.
On the physicality, Whitten commented that “every team is different. [Alaska] has that big heavy defensive corps that like to bang you around, and I think we responded well. We had a heavy effort, we were good that way and it was good to be delivering those kinds of hits.”
Defenses ruled the day, as neither team had much luck generating scoring chances. With few shots getting through in the first half of the game, netminders Nick Kossoff and Anton Martinsson had little difficulty, although Martinsson was aided by two posts in the first period.
Lake Superior started generating more offensive pressure as the game wore on, but Martinsson kept the Lakers out of the net thru two periods.
With Kossoff diving to try and snag a loose puck, Ryker Leer broke the stalemate by taking the puck and putting it up under the crossbar for a power play goal.
The Lakers evened things up early in the third period, as freshman defenseman Tyler Anderson earned his first collegiate goal. Anderson picked up a loose puck while his team crashed the net and buried the puck behind Martinsson on the stick side.
Just over six minutes later, with the Lakers on the power play, Henke got a loose puck and beat Martinsson, giving Lake Superior its first lead of the weekend in the process.
“He’s been very good offensively and consistent all season long,” remarked Whitten on Henke. ”Obviously he’s a major offensive catalyst for our team in that regard, and he brings it. As good as he’s been though, I still think he can be better and be a dominant force in this league.”
Henke later added an assist on a goal by Anthony Nellis, as he passed the puck right through the skates of an Alaska defender. With two points on the night, Henke (4-11-15) pulled ahead of Seuss for sole possession of first place in league scoring.
With Martinsson pulled for an extra skater, Henke looked to hit the empty net. Nanooks defenseman Zach Frye, however, managed to dive in front of the puck, saving the empty net goal.
Nonetheless, the Lakers’ Diego Cuglietta hit the empty net to secure the 4-1 win for Lake Superior, helping them to earn a series split with the Nanooks.
“I thought we played well for five periods and that’s not good enough to win two games on the road,” said Nanooks head coach Lance West. ”Last night we won some battles, got to the net and scored, and tonight I don’t think we got to the net.
“We still had a 1-0 lead thru two periods, playing a very tight game. Mental mistakes cost us in the third period, and they got some momentum out of them.”
Laker goaltender Kossoff faced just 20 shots, making 19 saves in the process to collect the win. Martinsson, his counterpart, came up with 27 saves on 30 shots.
WCHA Roundup
Alabama-Huntsville 3, Northern Michigan 2
Josh Kestner scored two goals, including the game winner 1:48 into the second period, as the Chargers held on to beat the Wildcats, splitting the weekend series. Northern Michigan held the lead twice in the first period, but Huntsville responded each time. All five goals in the contest came within a 7:00 stretch of play. In goal, Jordan Uhelski made 22 stops to collect the win, while Mathias Israelsson had 18 saves in defeat.
Ferris State 5, Alaska-Anchorage 2
A three goal third period led the Bulldogs past the Seawolves, enabling them to sweep the weekend. Alaska-Anchorage erased a two goal deficit in the second period with goals from Austin Azurdia and Corey Renwick. Two goals by Taylor Fernandez plus one more from Craig Pelfey made the difference for Ferris State. Pelfey finished with 2 goals and 2 assists on the night, as Justin Kapelmaster had 27 stops. His Seawolf counterpart Olivier Mantha had 28 saves on 32 shots.
Bemidji State 3, Bowling Green 3 (Bemidji State wins shootout)
The Beavers trailed 2-1 going into the third period before goals by Dillon Eichstadt and Ian Janco put them in the lead. Bowling Green’s Lukas Craggs then sent the game to overtime with an extra attacker goal with 54 seconds left on the clock. Jay Dickman scored the only goal in the shootout to earn the Beavers 2 of 3 points in the league standings. In goal, Michael Bitzer had 25 saves for the Beavers, while Ryan Bednard had 29 for the Falcons.
