ANCHORAGE - Sophomore Jon Olthuis earned his first-career shutout with an 18-save effort as Alaska Anchorage blanked visiting Michigan Tech 4-0 to snap a season-long seven-game winless streak tonight at Sullivan Arena.
The Seawolves (7-12-6, 3-12-4 WCHA) received point production from 10 different skaters, led by sophomores Kevin Clark and Paul Crowder, who chipped in two assists each.
Seniors Chris Tarkir and Merit Waldrop, junior Shane Lovdahl and sophomore Josh Lunden all tallied goals for UAA, which also collected its first conference home win of the season.
The ?Wolves, who outshot the Huskies (10-12-2, 6-9-2 WCHA) 15-7 in the opening frame, would build an early 2-0 lead on a pair of point-blank goals from Tarkir at 4:46 and from Lunden just under two minutes later at 6:38.
It was more of the same for UAA in the second as Waldrop would put back a rebound at 4:35 and Lovdahl would drill a dart from just inside the blueline on the power play at 7:58 giving the Seawolves a commanding four-goal cushion.
MTU starting goaltender Michael-Lee Teslak, who entered the game with the top goals-against average (1.73) and save percentage (.934) in the WCHA, was replaced by Rob Nolan after surrendering his third goal of the night.
UAA, which owned a 31-18 overall advantage in shots, limited the Huskies to just five shot attempts in the third to clinch its first shutout since Dec. 10, 2005.
The Seawolves, who thwarted off all five MTU power-play chances, including a two-man disadvantage in the opening period, were 1 for 5 on their own power play.
Lunden became the second Seawolf to crack the 20-point mark with his team-leading 11th goal, while Clark increased his team-best point total to 22. Lovdahl's goal was his third in four games while sophomore Jared Tuton registered his fourth assist in his last six games.
Olthuis, who improved to 6-10-6 on the season, became the 17th UAA goalie all-time to record a shutout with his 18-save performance.
The shutout was the fourth all-time by the Seawolves against the Huskies.
UAA faces MTU in Saturday's series finale. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m.
