newsminer.com

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — The Alaska Nanooks ended the regular season the same way they began it — with a loss.

The Nanooks fell 5-3 to the Lake Superior State Lakers on Saturday night after Alaska rallied to a 3-3 tie in the third period after trailing 3-0 in a dismal first period of the finale of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association series in the Taffy Abel Arena.

Sophomore center Dion Knelsen had three assists and junior defenseman Tyler Eckford, freshman left wing Dustin Sather and freshman right wing Landon Novotney provided the goals for the Nanooks, who ended at 8-16-4 in league play and 8-19-6 overall in the first regular season for Doc DelCastillo as the Alaska head coach.

Alaska overcame an 0-7 start to the season to put itself in contention late in the regular season for home ice in the playoffs. That changed with a loss and tie to ninth-ranked Notre Dame on Feb. 15-16 at the Carlson Center and back-to-back setbacks to Lake Superior.

Senior goaltender Wylie Rogers and junior netminder Chad Johnson combined for 33 saves Saturday for Alaska, which will head into the first round of the playoffs on March 7 as either the ninth or 10th seed, depending on how Ohio State finishes the season.

The Nanooks came into Saturday night in ninth place in the conference standings with 20 points and Ohio State was in 10th place with 16 points.

Ohio State and Notre Dame skated to a 2-2 tie Saturday night and the Buckeyes have two games left in the regular season, both against fifth-ranked Miami (Ohio). The Buckeyes play host to the RedHawks on Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio, and the teams end the regular season on Friday in Oxford, Ohio.

The Nanooks don’t yet know their postseason destiny, but they do know that they’ll be skating in an intrasquad scrimmage at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Patty Center. The admission is free but the University of Alaska Fairbanks Student-Athlete Advisory Council is accepting donations.

Lake Superior, led by sophomore left wing John Scrymgeour’s two goals and 22 saves from sophomore goaltender Pat Inglis, improved its 11th-place record to 6-15-5 CCHA and 8-18-6 overall with two games left in the regular season.

Dion Knelsen set up the game-tying goal at 43 seconds into the third period, centering a pass from behind the net to a blazing Novotney, who snapped his team-high 15th of the season between Inglis’ pads.

Center Jason Blain, one of three Lakers seniors honored Saturday night, regained the lead for the hosts at 2:56 with a shot from the right side of the crease that bounced off the back of Johnson’s pads and into the net.

Left wing and fellow Lakers senior Dan Eves added insurance with a goal at 7:23, prompting Alaska head coach Doc DelCastillo to call a timeout.

Getting opportunities to score but not capitalizing on them had plagued the Nanooks in their last three games.

In the first period Saturday, the Nanooks didn’t get opportunities, as they fell behind 3-0 while getting outshot 17-2.

Scrymgeour padded Lake Superior’s lead over the last 12 minutes of the period after freshman center Rick Schofield’s wrist shot from the right circle gave the Lakers a 1-0 lead at 6:29. Schofield provided the game-winner in Friday night’s victory.

Scrymgeour made it 2-0 during a 4-on-4 situation at 7:52, taking advantage of a turnover by Alaska defenseman Jeff Penner near the left point following a faceoff. Scrymgeour took Blain’s pass and outraced Nanooks defenseman T.J. Campbell up the middle of the ice to zip a wrist shot over Rogers’ glove-side shoulder.

With 1.4 seconds left on the clock, the Lakers sophomore pounced on defenseman Steven Kaunisto’s clearing pass during the Nanooks’ fourth power play and broke into a 2-on-1 before he wristed in the fourth short-handed goal allowed by Alaska this season.

One of Alaska’s few positives in the period was killing four power plays, but the three-goal deficit led to Rogers being replaced by Johnson in the second period. The junior had been bothered by a high ankle sprain and hadn’t been between the pipes since Dec. 7.

The Nanooks supported their new goaltender and picked up their offense in the second period to cut the Lakers’ lead to 3-2.

Alaska capitalized on a 5-on-3 power play, as Eckford uncorked a slap shot from the top of the slot 42 seconds into the period, making the score 3-1 and ending a 16-game goal-scoring drought for the assistant captain.

The Nanooks’ second goal Saturday started with Novotney outracing Lakers left wing Will Acton to a loose puck in the neutral zone and passing back to Dion Knelsen, whose initial attempt was stopped by Inglis. Sather, though, poked the puck through a crowd in front of Inglis at 15:43 to change the momentum of the period.

The Nanooks also had 12 shots in the period and denied Lake Superior’s lone power play. Johnson withstood 14 shots.