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Huskies regain their power play magic
 Media Credit: Christine Johnson/Editor SCSU defenseman Matt Gens falls on an Alabama-Huntsville player Saturday early in the second period of the Huskies� 7-2 win. The Charger, who was hurt, was carried to the penalty box.
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 Media Credit: Christine Johnson/Editor SCSU junior forward Ryan Malone is held by a linesman after a fight broke out Saturday in the Huskies� 7-2 win.
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If there was one thing the SCSU men's hockey team wanted to get out of this weekend's non-conference series with Alabama-Huntsville, it was that swagger back in their step.
The team had been suffering through their worst stretch in what could still turn out to be the best season in school history, a confidence booster loomed as the only cure. And they got it.
They got it by using what good hockey teams depend on � solid goaltending and timely scoring. They got it doing what they were doing so well early on � playing together.
"You couldn't measure (what this weekend meant to us)," said head coach Craig Dahl. "You couldn't put a dollar amount on it."
The Huskies pulled off their first sweep since late December when Minnesota State, Mankato was in town by beating the Chargers 3-0 Friday night and 7-2 Saturday.
Both nights the Huskies used the same formula, creating their offense from their defense.
On Friday night, however, it took them some time to get going. The teams skated to a scoreless first period that saw the Huskies carry a majority of the play, but it was apparent that UAH was getting the better of the scoring opportunities.
SCSU goaltender Dean Weasler was big when he needed to be, stopping a handful of close chances in that opening frame.
"Their goaltender played really well," said Charger head coach Doug Ross. "I didn't realize how quick he was."
Jeff Finger broke the deadlock 8:15 into the second period. He intercepted a clearing attempt in the neutral zone, skated into the Charger end before making one move with his shoulder and firing a shot that beat UAH net minder Mark Byrne low to put the Huskies up 1-0.
One goal the team had coming into the weekend was to play better every period. That was evident in the third period Friday night.
They got two goals, one off of a Derek Eastman blast and the other coming from a perfect give-and-go on a Mike Doyle and Peter Szabo two-on-one that Doyle finished by depositing Szabo's pass behind Byrne just as he skated by the right post.
"We wanted to just make sure we did the little things right tonight," said Doyle. "We didn't want to overplay the game. We wanted to let the chances come to us so we could just sit back and let things happen. We didn't want to force the issue too much."
And that's what the team accomplished. They out shot the Chargers 37-25, but were still held scoreless on the power play (0-4), stretching their season-long drought to 0-20 with the extra man, a lull that stretched over the course of five games.
Until Saturday night.
That power play came to life in the rematch, as they used five goals from the special teams play, four of which came on the power play, to cruise to a 7-2 win.
Hobey Baker candidate Mark Hartigan got it started with a shorthanded goal just two minutes into contest. After the bench was assessed a penalty for having too many men on the ice, Weasler made a pair of point blank stops before Hartigan and Nate DiCasmirro went in two-on-one. Two quick passes, and bang, Hartigan had his 25th goal of the year.
The Chargers made an attempt to make a game out of it when Tyler Butler's shot deflected off Ryan Malone, as he was trying to block the shot, and past Weasler to tie the game at one. Malone would redeem himself before the period was over, however, as he batted in his own rebound on the power play to put the Huskies up 2-1, a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
"We wanted to come out and start playing well again," said DiCasmirro, who sat out Friday night for taking a pair of bad penalties last Saturday night at Wisconsin. "All the lines worked real hard and everybody was doing their job. It was a start tonight, now we have to just keep this going from here."
They kept it going in the final two periods. Malone scored again to make it 3-1, and after the Chargers had cut the lead to 3-2, DiCasmirro and Finger scored back-to-back power play goals less than two minutes apart to blow the gates open. Finger's goal extended his team-high scoring streak to eight games.
"If we play our systems, which start in our defensive end, we usually do well," said Joe Motzko, who along with DiCasmirro scored in third to make it 7-2. "That is how things are going to work down the stretch, come up with big defensive plays and come down and capitalize."
The Huskies got plenty of help from the WCHA friends while they were idle from conference play over the weekend. First place Denver, which had two games in hand on SCSU, was swept by Colorado College and third place Minnesota could only manage a split in Duluth.
Now the race is on. From here on out, nobody has any games in hand on anybody else and Denver's lead on SCSU is a mere two points in the pursuit of the McNaughton Cup.
"We got some help," said DiCasmirro. "We were in a slump for a couple of games and now we have to get out of it and take advantage of what happened in the league."
Around the rink
- Nate DiCasmirro returned to the Husky lineup Saturday night. He sat out Friday's 3-0 win for taking a 10-minute misconduct penalty last Saturday in Madison. The all-freshmen line of Mike Doyle, Dave Iannazzo and Peter Szabo was reunited Saturday night as well.
- Dean Weasler started both games for the second consecutive weekend. Weasler appears to be the man Dahl has chosen as his go-to-guy in between the pipes. Jake Moreland hasn't played since he was replaced by Weasler after the second period in the Huskies' 4-1 loss at Brown.
- SCSU captain Jon Cullen will return to practice this week. He has been out since reinjuring the knee that kept him out of 11 of the team's first 12 games Jan. 12 against UMD. Both he and Dahl hope for the captain's return to the ice for next weekend's series at Michigan Tech.
Nick Clark can be reached at: [email protected]
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