FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- Western Michigan rallied to tie No. 16 Alaska and then defeated the Nanooks in a shootout, 1-0, in front of 3,327 fans at the Carlson Center late Friday night.
Max Campbell and
Greg Squires each tallied a goal and an assist, with Campbell notching the game-tying goal in the third period. The Broncos are now 8-0-4 when a player tallies more than one point in a game.
Jerry Kuhn made 27 saves and stopped one shot and forced two shots wide in the shootout to give WMU the extra point.
Dennis Brown worked his magic again with the lone goal in the shootout.
There was no rust on the Broncos (10-6-5, 4-5-4-3 CCHA) as they pressured Alaska from start.
Dane Walters had several chances in the first period go just wide or saved by UAF goalie Scott Greenham. The Broncos had three power play opportunities in the period, firing off seven of their 14 shots with the man advantage.
Despite the rush of shots, it was the Nanooks that struck first with a goal at 9:52 in the second period. Alaska was on the power play when Andy Taranto poked it in from the side of the goal to give Alaska a 1-0 lead.
The Broncos tied it up minutes later on a goal by Squires. Squires got the puck from Campbell and fired up and over Greenham's shoulder from the left circle for his sixth goal of the year. Campbell tallied his 10th assist of the year and
Trevor Elias tallied his eighth helper as WMU squared the game at 1-1.
The lead didn't last long as Carlo Finucci put the Nanooks back head at the 13:14 mark in the second period. Finucci took a pass on a rush and fired it from the left circle up and over WMU goal
Jerry Kuhn's glove for his fifth goal of the season.
WMU squared the game at 2-2 at 9:58 in the third period on a power play goal by Campbell. Campbell took a no-look pass from Squires and skated into the slot, throwing a laser past Green's stick-side for his 10th goal of the season. Squires tallied his ninth assist of the season on the game-tying goal and
Danny DeKeyser also tallied his sixth helper.
Dennis Brown worked his magic again as he scored the lone goal in the shootout and Kuhn made one save as the other two Alaska attempts went wide. With the shootout win WMU moves up into sole possession of seventh place in the CCHA, just one point behind Ohio State, who the Broncos host next weekend.
Alaska's Greenham made a game-high 36 saves on the night. The Broncos are undefeated in their last four games and play at Alaska Saturday night at 11:05 p.m. EST.
