SAULT STE. MARIE - Lake Superior State broke a six-game losing streak on Saturday night with a 3-0 victory over Bemidji State in the weekend's Western Collegiate Hockey Association series finale. Along with the winless streak the Lakers (10-18-4, 7-11-4 WCHA) also kicked another monkey off their backs, a streak of 0-for-23 on the power play.
It had been nearly a month since Lake Superior State scored a power-play goal, the last one coming on a game-winning goal by freshman Diego Cuglietta on Jan. 16 against Alaska Anchorage. That curse was lifted Saturday evening when sophomore J.T. Henke scored his seventh goal of the season to lift the Lakers to a 1-0 lead with seven minutes remaining in regulation.
Henke leads the Lakers with seven goals and eight assists for 15 points on the season.
The power-play goal, scored with six seconds left on the penalty time to Bemidji's Charlie O'Connor, was the product of a persistent Laker fore-check that finally wore down the WCHA's top rated penalty killing unit. Freshman Anthony Nellis (3-10--13), who netted an assist in Friday's 2-1 defeat, laid a perfect centering pass to fellow freshman Gage Torrel (6-8--14).
Torrel payed the puck off BSU's Michael Bitzer with a well-placed shot that rebounded perfectly to a ready and waiting Henke.
With the slight lead and little time remaining, the Lakers battened down the hatches defensively and received a shutout performance by sophomore goaltender Gordon Defiel. Defiel (7-11-3) made 30 saves including many acrobatic saves against odd-man advantages and four power-play tries by the Beavers (13-12-5, 8-10-4 WCHA).
Defiel's second shutout of the season and sixth of his career ties him with legendary Lakers netminder Bruce Hoffort for 6th all-time on the career shutout list.
Bitzer, Defiel's counterpart, made 21 saves and was sharp throughout the contest allowing only the goal to Henke on his record.
With under a minute to play and Bitzer pulled for the extra attacker sophomore defenseman Aidan Wright (1-2--3) intercepted a loose puck in the neutral zone and fired his first goal of the season from the red line.
Moments later the Beavers pulled Bitzer again but coughed the puck up in the offensive zone, which freshman Mitch Hults (6-8--14) fired up the boards to a streaking Torrel. Torrel safely secured the empty netter for his sixth goal of the season and second point on the evening.
The assist gave Hults consecutive games with a helper after assisting on the Laker goal in Friday's contest.
With both Alaska schools idle this weekend and following a split on the series, the Lakers claimed sole possession of 7th place in the WCHA standings. Bemidji State remains in 6th place and two points ahead of the Lakers.
With a win and tie in Bemidji on Nov. 20-21, the Lakers took a 2-1-1 overall series advantage over the Beavers for the 2015-16 regular season.
Next weekend the Lakers make the difficult travel to Alaska to face Alaska Anchorage in a pair of games that will have major implications on the final two playoff spots. The Seawolves, on bye this week, currently sit 8th in the WCHA standings.
