The Nanooks emerged with a 2-2 tie against the Ohio State Buckeyes in regulation and overtime of Thursday’s opener of conference series in Columbus, Ohio. Alaska then lost 2-1 in the shootout.
The same scenario occured last Saturday for the Nanooks against the Western Michigan Broncos in the finale of a CCHA series in the Carlson Center. The only difference was Alaska overcame a 2-0 deficit in the second period with a pair of goals in the third.
On Thursday in the Value City Arena, Ohio State junior left wing Alex Carlson broke a scoreless deadlock at less than 40 seconds into the third period. Nanooks centers Jarret Granberg and Justin Filzen responded in a span of 1 minute, 7 seconds, and defenseman Ben Gallacher, one of 12 Buckeyes freshmen, answered with a late power play goal to force overtime.
The Nanooks gained one point in the standings for the tie and remained in 10th place at 0-1-2-0 CCHA and 3-2-2 overall. The Buckeyes collected two points for the tie and the shootout win, and combined with Ferris State’s 5-2 loss at Michigan, took over sole possession of second place (2-2-1-1, 3-3-1).
A team gain three points for a win in regulation or overtime, and the Nanooks were aiming Thursday for their first victory this season in CCHA play.
“Obviously, we were looking for more,” Filzen, a senior, said by cell phone. “We got off to a slow start in the first period. In the second and third periods, we picked up the tempo and started to move pucks faster.”
“We could have used Olympic ice in the first period to get our legs underneath us, but we started to roll,” Filzen added.
The Nanooks play on Olympic-size ice (200x100) at the Carlson Center and the Value City sheet is regulation size (200x85).
The Nanooks outshot the Buckeyes 36-22, boosted by a 33-11 domination in the second and third periods.
“I’m happy with the way we got better as the game went on, but I’m not happy that we couldn’t get that extra point in the shootout,” Alaska head coach Dallas Ferguson said by cell phone. “We’ll just have to get focused and get ready for tomorrow’s (today’s) game.”
Carlson surprised Nanooks senior goaltender Scott Greenham (20 saves) with a quick shot at 38 seconds into the third. Granberg, a junior, made it 1-1 at 8:02 with his second power-play goal of the season, courtesy of a nice feed from senior defenseman and assistant captain Aaron Gens.
Filzen rushed to the front of the crease at 9:07 to pop the puck through a crowd and past Buckeyes senior Cal Heeter (34 saves) after senior right wing and team captain Ron Meyers tried to bury a rebound of Chad Gehon’s attempt.
Filzen had passed the puck from the half-boards to Gehon, a junior left wing, in the slot.
“I don’t know if it (Gehon shot) was blocked, but it (puck) was sitting out front,” Filzen said. “Ronnie was battling out front, and I happened to get to the net and everything worked out.”
After three Alaska penalty kills, Gallacher provided Ohio State’s first goal with the man-advantage at 11:13. The Nanooks were 1 for 6 on the power play.
The Nanooks survived a Buckeyes power play in overtime to force their second shootout in as many games.
Sophomore left wing Colton Beck got his second shootout tally of the season with a backhand. Right wing Tanner Fritz tied it for the Buckeyes and Heeter denied Granberg on a low wrist shot.
Ohio State right wing Chris Crane scored the eventual winner and the shootout ended after Alaska junior right wing Andy Taranto lost control of the puck while skating up the ice for his attempt.
The Nanooks survived gettting outshot 9-2 in the first period of their first CCHA road game of
2011-12.
“We had a couple of neutral-zone turnovers that put us on our heels and we started playing in our zone too much,” Ferguson said. “During the first intermission, I told them let’s shake it off and let’s get better in the second period, and I thought we did that.”
The Nanooks have an eight-game unbeaten streak (5-0-3) in the series, which they lead all-time at
25-23-6.
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