Mavericks feast on Seawolves

Half of MSU's WCHA points come against UAA

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — To say that the Minnesota State men's hockey team matches up well against Alaska-Anchorage might be an understatement.

With a 3-2 victory Saturday at Sullivan Arena, the Mavericks collected seven of eight available Western Collegiate Hockey Association points from the Seawolves this season.

That's half of seventh-place MSU's conference point total.

Rob Rankin broke a 2-2 tie, finishing off a rush with linemates Travis Morin and David Backes at 2:18 of the second period.

Unlike Friday's game, which finished in a 2-2 overtime tie, the Mavericks held the lead, as goalie Chris Clark made 17 of his 25 saves in the second and third periods.

Morin and Ryan Carter scored power-play goals in the first period, and MSU's penalty kill completed a perfect weekend with six kills Saturday. It held the Seawolves scoreless on three power plays in the series opener.

The Mavericks outshot the Seawolves 33-27. Backes had two assists.

Minnesota State (9-13-4, 6-12-2 in WCHA) broke out of a tie with the Alaska-Anchorage in the WCHA standings. They are now two points ahead of the eighth-place Seawolves and five points behind sixth-place Minnesota-Duluth.

The Mavericks will have next weekend off before returning to play Feb. 4-5 when they host Colorado College in Mankato.

Minnesota State 2-1-0--3

Alaska-Anchorage 2-0-0--2

First Period

Scoring

1. MSU-Morin 10 (Brenk, Backes) ppg 3:32
2. UAA-Waldrop 4 (Stuchlik, Parez) 6:03
3. MSU-Carter 9 (Marler, Kisio) ppg 7:27
4. UAA-Hamilton 4 (Parez, Walsky) 19:29.

Penalties

• Hanson, UAA (high-sticking) 1:57
• Cartwright, UAA (cross-checking) 6:50
• Kisio, MSU (slashing) 10:31.

Second Period

Scoring

5. MSU-Rankin 5 (Morin, Backes) 2:18

Penalties

• Stuchlik, UAA (interference) 13:44
• Hanson, MSU (roughing) 13:49
• McKelvie, MSU (holding) 16:16
• Stuchlik, UAA (roughing) 16:16
• Peto, MSU (tripping) 17:43
• UAA bench (too many on ice) 19:11

Third Period

Scoring

None

Penalties

• Rankin, MSU (cross-checking) 5:11
• Hanson, UAA (holding) 7:28
• Brenk, MSU (interference) 9:25
• Johns, MSU (holding) 12:26
• Green, UAA (hooking), 17:23

Summaries

Shots on goal

• MSU 13-8-12--33
• UAA 10-13-4--27

Penalties

• MSU 7 for 14 minutes
• UAA 7 for 14 minutes

Power-play opportunities

• MSU 2 of 6
• UAA 0 of 6

Goalie saves

• MSU-Clark 8-13-4--25
• UAA-Lawson 11-7-12--30

Attendance

• 3,750

Referee

• Derek Shepherd

Assistant referees

• Kent Asplund
• Carl Saden