FOR STARTERS
• The Lakers will look to continue to build onto their Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) win total in Alaska this weekend as the team heads to Fairbanks to take on the Nanooks for a second straight weekend of play in the state. The series opens on Friday, Jan. 10 at 11:00 p.m. EST and concludes on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 11:00 p.m. EST.
• Last weekend, the Lakers recorded a road split against the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves, dropping the first game 2-0 on Saturday night and responding with a 5-3 win on Sunday.
• LSSU's record sits at 7-18-1 overall and 5-10-1-1 in WCHA play after opening the season against some of the NCAA's stiffest competition including two games against No. 2 Denver, a pair of road games against the Michigan Wolverines as well as a road series against the No. 4/5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.The Lakers opened conference play with two wins against Ferris State on Nov. 1 and 2, and have rotated between home and road WCHA series since, including an away series against No. 1 Minnesota State. In the month of December, five of the six games the Lakers played in were against ranked opponents.
• Lakers Head Coach Damon Whitten is in his sixth season behind the bench in Sault Ste. Marie. Whitten has led the team to a 73-122-20 record, including 23 wins in 2018-19.
• Lake Superior is coming off of the program's best season in 23 years, posting a 23-12-2 overall record and finishing fourth in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).
LAST WEEKEND RECAP
• In the opening game of the series, the Lakers fell by a final score of 2-0 depsite a strong effort in goal by junior Mareks Mitens who stopped 20 shots by the Seawolves. The game marked the sixth straight time that Mitens allowed two or fewer goals.
• In the second game, the Lakers would score the first goal as Ashton Calder netted his fifth goal of the season, which ties his previous season high in goals.
• Max Humitz would add a pair of goals in the game for the Lakers as he scored his team leading 13 and 14th goals of the season - a power play goal as well as an empty net goal to seal the victory.
• Senior forward Brayden Gelsinger tallied his first goal of the season in Sunday's game when he scored the game tying goal late in the third period.
• Pete Veillette would notch the game winning goal with under four minutes left in regulation to put the Lakers ahead in the game, and would become the first Laker this season to record two or more game winning goals.
• Hampus Eriksson tallied his 12th assist of the season in the game. The Swedish forward is tied for eighth in assists in the WCHA.
• Defensemen Jacob Nordqvist, Mitchell Oliver and Lukas Kaelble each added an assist in the win.
• Nine different players had at least a point in the game and four Lakers recorded multi-point games: Ashton Calder (1G, 1A), Max Humitz (2G, 1A), Pete Veillette (1G, 1A), and Louis Boudon (0G, 3A).
• Among the players with multi-point games, three tied or new single game career highs. Humitz tied his previous single game high in goals (2) and points (3), Veillette tied his single game high in goals (1) and points (2) and Boudon set a new high in single game assists (3) and tied his previous high in single game
points (3).
• Thanks to his three assist appearance in the win, Boudon is now fourth among all WCHA freshmen in points and tied for eighth in assists in the WCHA as he has 12 assists and 15 points this season.
• Laker goaltender Mareks Mitens stopped 42 shots by the Seawolves in the pair of games. The junior allowed five goals and posted a weekend goals against average of 2.52 and a save percentage of .895. Since Nov. 23, Mitens ranks third among all WCHA netminders with a .927 save percentage and fourth in goals against average (2.17).
• Mitens has faced 694 shots this season and made 623 saves this season, which both rank first among all WCHA goaltenders and second in the NCAA. The Laker goalie has played more minutes (1438:22) than any other NCAA goaltender.
LAKERS VS. ALASKA
• The Lakers and the Nanooks will meet for their only series this season.
• Last season, the Lakers and Alaska played each other four times with the Lakers compiling a 2-1-1 record in the series.
• Brayden Gelsinger, Lukas Kaelble and Collin Saccoman registered at least a point in all four games against the Nanooks last season. In the most recent game against Alaska on Dec. 8, 2018, Gelsinger recorded a career-high four points which included a hat trick.
• Humitz (4G, 5A) and Gelsinger (3G, 6A) are tied for the lead in career points against Alaska among current Lakers as each player has nine career points.
• Nine current Lakers have recorded at least a point against Alaska: Humitz, Gelsinger, Saccoman, Kaelble, Nordqvist, Basilico, Gamelin, Ridell and Anderson.
• In two career games against Alaska, Mareks Mitens has a 0-2-0 record.
• The Lakers hold the advantage in the all-time series, with a 39-19-8 record against the Nanooks, yet the series has been evenly matched in recent years with the record in the last 10 meetings sitting at 4-4-2.
SCOUTING THE NANOOKS
• Alaska is led by Head Coach Erik Largen, who is in his second season in the role after spending two seasons as an assistant coach with the team.
• The Nanooks hold a 10-12 overall record and a 8-8 mark in WCHA play this season. The team is coming off a pair of losses to No. 3 Minnesota State and is currently tied for fourth in the conference standings.
• Through 22 games this season, junior forward Max Newton leads the team in points with 14, consisting of six goals and eight assists. Justin Young, a junior forward, is second on the team with 13 points, which includes his team-leading seven goals.
• Alaska's goaltending duo of Anton Martinsson and Gustavs Grigals have combined for ten wins this season, with each recording five wins. Martinsson has posted a 2.50 goals against average in 817:31 of playing time with a save percentage of .919. Grigals has registered a 2.73 goals against average and an .884 save percentage in 483:09 of playing time this season.
• Alaska's power play has a 9.6% success rate this season and the team's penalty kill percetange is at an 82.5%
WHAT'S NEXT
• The Lakers will have their first bye week of the season next weekend after returning from Alaska. The following weekend Lake State will resume play against Alaska Anchorage for the second time this month as the Lakers will host a series on Friday, Jan. 24 and Saturday, Jan. 25.