ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Northeastern defeated Alaska Anchorage, 4-2, Saturday night to go 1-0-1 in the Kendall Hockey Classic at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, Alaska. The Huskies tied Alaska Fairbanks, 0-0, on Friday night. In Saturday's game, Ryan Ginand had a pair of goals and Wade MacLeod and Dennis McCauley scored. Ginand and goalie Brad Thiessen (21 saves) were named to the All-Tournament team.
Northeastern’s first goal of the game was a short-handed goal by Ginand just 2:06 into the first period. Ginand received the pass from Kyle Kraemer after Denis Chisholm was able to break up an Anchorage power-play formation. Ginand went one-on-one with the defender and was able to break free and take a quick snap shot that found the back of the net, beating Anchorage goalie Jon Olthuis.
The Huskies' second goal was scored by MacLeod on a rebound shot from Tyler McNeely. David Strathman started the play in the Northeastern zone as he broke the puck up on the left side before dishing it off to McNeely. McNeely raced down the left side on a two-on-one, seeing the defenseman sliding towards him, McNeely made the wise play of shooting a low hard shot to the outside pad of Olthuis who kicked the rebound right to MacLeod, who banged it home.
Anchorage answered back as Jade Portward was able to net a rare rebound given up by Thiessen. The Seawolves were on the power play as Tommy Grant fired a shot from the bottom of the faceoff circle, which Thiessen could not control. Portward buried the opportunity at 12:13. The goal went under review but the referees deemed it a credible goal.
The Huskies soon regained their two-goal lead as Ginand once again found the back of the net for the Huskies. McCauley skated the puck down the wing before dropping a pass to Ginand who fired a wrist shot into the top corner of the net. The goal was Ginand’s second of the night and proved to be the game-winner.
In the third, Anchorage once again brought the score within one as Paul Crowder was able to score on a rebound from a Trevor Hunt shot at 16:25.
The Huskies retrieved their two goal lead just under a minute later on a power play to make the final 4-2 as Louis Liotti put a quality shot on net and McCauley was able to put the rebound in at 17:18. It was McCauley’s second goal of the tournament.
The first period was controlled by Northeastern as they tallied 11 shots on net compared to the Seawolves' three. The Huskies had multiple power play chances but could not capitalize on any of Anchorage's seven penalties. At 4:30 into the first, Ginand was at it again as he cut across the middle and received a pass from Dennis McCauley, however, Ginand’s shot rang off the post.
The second period was just as physical as the first. Northeastern played most of the period a man down after tallying four penalties compared to Alaska’s two. Anchorage was able to make up some shots from the first as they tacked on nine while Northeastern only managed seven.
The third period would follow the same pattern as the second as Northeastern tallied four penalties while Alaska only received two. Thiessen made 22 saves on the night for the Huskies.
The Huskies open up Hockey East play next weekend as they take on Providence at Schneider Arena on Friday, then host Boston College at Matthews Arena for Homecoming on Saturday. Both games begin at 7 p.m.