ANCHORAGE ? The Alaska Anchorage Seawolves and the Michigan Tech Huskies battled to a 3-3 tie in overtime for the second consecutive night at the Sullivan Arena in front of 3,269 spectators.
The Seawolves (8-10-4, 5-9-4) got up by two, before allowing the Huskies (5-18-5, 1-14-5) to tie the game 2-2 in the second period. The Huskies were the first to strike in the third, taking the lead for the only time of the game. UAA retaliated less than a minute afterward, tying the game back up and sending it into overtime.
During the first period, Michigan Tech's netminder Rob Nolan fought off two shots before freshman Jade Portwood scored his second goal of the season to give the Seawolves a 1-0 lead with 6:36 left on the clock. UAA's sophomore Nick Haddad was credited with his fifth assist of the season. The first period ended with a UAA season-high 14 shots on Nolan.
Junior Nils Backstrom added his third tally of the year with just 40 seconds into the second period, putting UAA up by two. Senior Mat Robinson passed the puck to junior Brian Bales from the blueline before finding Backstrom's stick.
The Huskies responded with two unanswered power play goals by Brett Olson in the second to tie the game at 2-2. The Huskies spent a combined 40 seconds in the power plays before scoring both goals. Olson received his first goal from Deron Cousens and Peter Rohn at 4:05 of the period, just 16 seconds into the man advantage.
With 36 seconds left in the period, junior Paul Crowder was tagged for hooking, sending the Huskies on their third power play of the game. Olson struck with his second of the game within just 24 seconds of the 5-on-4. Geoff Kinrade and Cousens were credited with the assists.
The third period remained tied for the first 14 minutes before Drew Dobson netted his first goal of the season with 5:30 left in regulation play. The Huskies first lead of the game was short lived as UAA's Josh Lunden tied the game back up at 3-3, less than a minute apart at 4:37. Lunden received the puck in the Huskies zone from Backstrom and Sean Wiles, and sent the puck low on Nolan's glove side to send the game into overtime.
The Seawolves powered though on the penalty kill when Kevin Clark was whistled for tripping, but they were unable to recover for the win. UAA has failed to win a game in overtime since March of 2007.
UAA's goaltender Jon Olthuis posted 19 saves for a 5-6-1 record and Nolan was credited with 28 (2-13-4). The Seawolves peppered Nolan with 31 shots compared to the 22 shots Nolan faced.
The Seawolves were 0-2 on the power play, while the Huskies took advantage on two of five.
The Seawolves and the Huskies ended the weekend with two points apiece in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association conference. UAA remained in 9th place in the standings with 14 points and MTU continues to trail the Seawolves with 7 points.
UAA will hit the road to Denver, Colo., to face the conference-leading Pioneers on Jan. 30-31. The puck is scheduled to drop at 5:37 p.m. (AST) on Friday night and at 5:07 p.m. (AST) on Saturday.
