Little things make all the difference in hockey games. Tonight’s matchup between Alaska and No. 13 Ferris State came down to penalties and face-offs.<\/p>\n
Both teams capitalized on opportunities off of face-offs and on the power play. However, it was Ferris State that won the game’s even-strength battle by scoring two goals to take the win and four CCHA points on the weekend.<\/p>\n
Both teams scored on nearly identical plays off of face-offs that featured a center winning the draw cleanly back to a wing for a shot over the goalie’s glove.<\/p>\n
“I was fortunate to win the draw,” said Matt Kirzinger of Ferris’ face-off goal. “Then, Jordie made a great move to skate to the middle of ice. He’s really hot right now.”<\/p>\n
Alaska’s face-off goal came off a draw won by Cody Kunyk back to Andy Taranto, who moved to the middle of the ice before lifting a shot past Taylor Nelson.<\/p>\n
“Ferris State is usually one of the better teams on face-offs and seem to win a lot of face-offs; it’s a big part of their game,” said Alaska assistant coach Lance West. “They do different things, and we got one back on a face-off, too. It came down to the five-on-five play tonight.”<\/p>\n
Both teams also netted power-play goals. Alaska’s Jarret Granberg opened the scoring 1:44 into the game with a shot at an empty cage following a head’s-up play by Nik Yaremchuk, who picked up a rebound and found Granberg.<\/p>\n
Ferris State answered with a power-play goal of its own to take the lead with five minutes remaining in the game.<\/p>\n
With Ferris State cycling the puck in the Alaska zone, Garrett Thompson was working in the low slot before jumping up high to take a pass from Kirzinger for the game winning one-timer.<\/p>\n
“I noticed that their defender was starting to cheat down low a little bit,” said Thompson, “so I popped up high in the slot and Matty hit me with a great pass.”<\/p>\n
The one-goal loss was the seventh such loss of the year for the Nanooks<\/p>\n
“It’s been kind of the theme for the whole year for us; we played well and we’re proud of our effort,” said West. “It’s another 3-2 lead, on the road, in the third period, and we lose by a goal.<\/p>\n
Ferris State (14-8-2, 8-6-2-0 CCHA) will travel to Columbus, Ohio, for a two-game series with the CCHA-leading Ohio State Buckeyes, while Alaska (7-11-4, 4-10-4-2 CCHA) returns home for a two-game CCHA series with Bowling Green.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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