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FAIRBANKS — There were 4.3 seconds on the scoreboard clock Friday night in Ferris State University’s Ewigleben Ice Arena, and sophomore center and assistant team captain Derek Klassen was prepared to take the faceoff in the Alaska Nanooks end of the ice.

The Nanooks were clinging to a 3-2 lead in the opener of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association series and Ferris State had pulled goaltender Taylor Nelson for an extra attacker.

Before the assistant referee dropped the puck in the circle to the left of Nanooks goalie Chad Johnson, Klassen decided that if he didn’t win the faceoff, he’d make sure that the Bulldogs wouldn’t capitalize on the draw and fire a shot.

“Just be calm,” Klassen said after Wednesday night’s practice, recalling the last of his 12 faceoffs in the game.

“It’s going to get into your head if you think into it too much,” he said. “Just act like it’s any other shift, but at the same time, it’s kind of a spotlight situation. There’s only four seconds, so make sure you win the draw, and then you win the game. If you lose it, make sure you’re getting in front of their guy and hopefully blocking the shot.

“Just bearing down in the last minute of the game is huge for the team to get the win.”

Klassen lost the faceoff, but he made a huge play. He bolted from the circle to defend the draw’s recipient at the right point, and time ran out before the Bulldogs player could handle the puck. It secured the win for the Nanooks, who would win 2-0 Saturday to sweep Ferris State and move into four-way tie for fourth place in the CCHA at 5-3-0 conference and 7-4-1 overall.

“It’s one of those things that if you lose the faceoff, you’ve got to be able to react defensively,” Nanooks head coach Dallas Ferguson said Wednesday at the Carlson Center, where the Nanooks host the Lake Superior State Lakers in a CCHA series at 7:35 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

“That’s a little play in a hockey game that doesn’t show up in a stat sheet,” said Ferguson, “but as a coach and as players on the bench, you can see that play. If he would had just lost the faceoff and stayed stationary, they might have got a shot on net because you need less than four seconds to score off a faceoff.”

Klassen’s charge to the point was significant because the Nanooks won only 18 of 43 faceoffs in the game, and Klassen, a 5-foot-9, 190-pound pivot from Whitehorse, Yukon, was the Alaska player with the best record in winning draws (6-for-12).

“It’s one of things where if the chips are down and you need a big play,” Ferguson said. “Derek is the kind of kid that rises to the occasion. He’s a gamer.”

Klassen flashed his offensive side last weekend too, by contributing a goal and two assists. In Saturday’s victory, he assisted on freshman right wing Justin Brossman’s game-winner at 34 seconds into the third period and scored into an empty net with 11 seconds left in the game.

The 22-year-old business administration major has a goal and four assists this season, but he has a penchant for playing defense for a program that leads the CCHA and ranks fourth nationally among NCAA Division I teams for defense. The Nanooks have allowed 17 goals in 12 games for an average of 1.42 per contest. That statistic has changed the way Klassen plays.

“I’m usually more prone to be on the defensive side of the puck rather than cheat and try offensively,” said Klassen, who has four goals and 13 points in 43 career games.