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HOUGHTON, Mich. — On some nights, your goaltender is your best player, and Friday night, the Ferris State Bulldogs leaned heavily on Justin Kapelmaster, and the sophomore was outstanding, stopping 45 of 48 shots the Michigan Tech Huskies threw at him as the Bulldogs came away from the MacInnes Student Ice Arena with a 4-3 win.
Bulldogs coach Bob Daniels felt Kapelmaster was the difference in the hockey game.
“I have to give Justin Kapelmaster credit,” said Daniels. “He was the No. 1 star for us tonight. I thought he played very well. I just thought Justin was really stood strong for us.”
Daniels was tested from the start as the Huskies wanted to come out strong and shake off any early-game rust after a week off. It did not take them long to do so, as they drew an early-game power play just 2:38 in. Between that advantage and two more in the period, the Huskies fired 21 shots at Kapelmaster, but only one found the back of the net when winger Jake Jackson scored at 18:19.
Needing a change of effort between the first and second periods, Daniels addressed the players in the locker room, and they responded about as well as he could have hoped, striking three times over a 10:19 stretch to jump ahead 3-1.
“There wasn’t much we needed to say to them,” said Daniels. “I just felt we needed to move the puck quicker. I thought we struggled breaking out of our own zone.”
Drew Dorantes, Coale Norris, and Craig Pefley all scored as the Bulldogs found a way to not rely on leading scorer Mitch Maloney.
Despite the three-goal outburst, however, the Bulldogs still found themselves relying on Kapelmaster to keep themselves in the lead as he made another 10 saves in the middle frame including two late-period stops on the Huskies’ Raymond Brice and assistant captain Dylan Steman in the final minute of action.
The Huskies struck just 23 seconds into the third period on a miscue in front of Kapelmaster when Justin Misiak found the back of the net. Captain Brent Baltus evened the game at 9:21 when he beat Kapelmaster with a one-timed slapshot.
That was the last puck that beat the sophomore.
“He played really well,” said Baltus. “He was seeing the puck well. I thought we had a lot of second chance opportunities, but he battled hard and credit to him.”
Kapelmaster put on a show after that, including five key saves over the final 1:36 while the Huskies had an extra attacker on the ice.
“We generated a lot of good chances, right down to the end,” said Huskies coach Joe Shawhan. “I thought we had three great looks with the goalie out, great looks, all alone. Tonight, we just weren’t able to do it. Their goaltender made the saves when he had to make the saves.”
WCHA roundup
No. 8 Minnesota State 5, Lake Superior State 1
The Lakers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in first period on a goal by Hampus Erikkson, but that was all they would get as they surrendered the game’s next five goals.
Five different scorers struck for the visiting Mavericks. Jared Spooner opened the run at 2:42 of the second. Parker Tuomie, Zeb Knutson, Jake Jaremko, and Daniel Brickley scored over the next 12:55 to seal the win.
Northern Michigan 1, Bemidji State 1 OT
Robbie Payne gave the Wildcats the lead on the power play 12:07 into the game. The lead was short-lived as Myle Fitzgerald evened the game late in the opening frame.
Michael Bitzer and Mathias Israelsson made 20 and 24 saves, respectively, in the 1-1 tie.
Jordan Klimek scored in the second overtime to give the Wildcats two WCHA road points.
Alabama-Huntsville 3, Bowling Green State 3 OT
Mitchell McLain put the Falcons on the board just 1:16 into the contest. From there, both teams held leads, but neither could find the crucial fourth goal in a 3-3 tie.
Stephen Baylis and Connor McDonald added goals for the host Falcons. Josh Kestner struck twice for the Chargers and Madison Dunn also picked up a goal in the contest.
Alaska 7, Alaska Anchorage 2
Colton Leiter and Tyler Cline both scored twice to propel the Nanooks to the road win over the Seawolves.
UAF led 6-0 only 20 seconds into the third period. Nanooks goalie Anton Martinsson made 22 saves to help the visitors take a 3-0 lead in the six-game Governor’s Cup series.
Jonah Renouf recorded a goal and assist in the third period to pace Anchorage.
