Junior defenseman Jake Chelios runs into Northern Michigan forward Reed Seckel after Chelios pushed the puck away. The Spartans defeated the Wildcats, 4-2, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013, at Munn Ice Arena. Justin Wan/The State News
It might not be the series sweep it was looking for, but MSU hockey (10-21-3 overall, 8-17-1-0 CCHA) picked up its first pair of back-to-back wins this season with a 1-0 win against Alaska on Friday night.
Unfortunately for the Spartans, that streak wasn’t extended to three games when Alaska found success on the power play Saturday night, beating MSU, 4-2.
Captain and junior forward Greg Wolfe had MSU’s lone tally Friday almost eight minutes into the first period, with assists by sophomore forward Matt Berry and freshman defenseman John Draeger.
The following night, MSU pulled ahead early once again with a goal by Berry, but Alaska picked up the lead with two power-play tallies in the second period.
The Spartans tied it up with less than three minutes to play on a goal by sophomore forward Brent Darnell, but another power-play goal by Alaska with 1:03 to play put the Nanooks back on top. An empty-netter by Alaska capped the game off.
Alaska went 0-for-4 on power plays Friday night, but responded by scoring on three of its five power plays the following game.
Junior goaltender Will Yanakeff got the nod both nights, stopping 66 of 69 shots faced throughout the series.
“Will Yanakeff was absolutely outstanding,” head coach Tom Anastos told msuspartans.com. “I wish he would have gotten a win out of it (Saturday), but it was good to see him play as well as he did, and hopefully he can gain some confidence out
of that.”
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