Huskies hockey hits bye week with momentum
Michigan Tech looks to energize for late season run

Michigan Tech forward Elias Jansson, left, gestures toward the crowd after he scored into an empty net during the third period of a CCHA hockey game played against Northern Michigan at the Berry Events Center in Marquette on Saturday. (Caden Sierra/Mining Journal (Marquette))
HOUGHTON — With a 3-2 win on Friday at home and a 4-0 win on the road Saturday against the Northern Michigan Wildcats, the Huskies improved to 15-9-2 overall and 11-5-2 in CCHA play. Despite having the second-most wins in the conference, the Huskies sit third behind the Minnesota State Mavericks and the Augustana Vikings with eight games left in the season before the playoffs begin.
Still, defeating Northern Michigan for the fourth and fifth times, officially, and sixth if one counts the exhibition game prior to the start of the season, was no easy task.
“It’s tough to beat any team six times in a row,” said Huskies assistant coach Jordy Murray. “(We’re) really happy with our game on Saturday, obviously, just to complete the weekend against your rivals, always really fun. But, I thought we played well Saturday, played a complete game. Lots of things to be happy about.
“Now we’re going into bye week. There’s lots of things we can shore up, and work on, and get ready for the last stretch.”
The Wildcats came into the weekend winners of three of their last four, so for the Huskies to find ways to defeat them meant a lot to the coaching staff.
“Northern was playing good hockey and they pushed us on Friday,” Murray said. “Even a lot of the games we played against them were one-goal games and close games. You never know in a rivalry game with a sold out rink. It’s tough to put teams away, and when teams can hang on, you never know what could happen at the end when guys get a little nervous and a little tight.
“I thought that happened to us a little bit on Friday. Then on Saturday, getting that third goal was huge, that shorthanded goal, Max (Koskipirtti)’s goal. Then in the third period, I didn’t think we gave them a chance to climb back into it. So, I thought we did a really good job finishing the game on Saturday.”
A big part of the reason the Huskies were able to keep the Wildcats at bay Saturday was the play of freshman netminder Ryan Manzella. He picked up his third straight Saturday shutout and now sports a 1.41 goals against average and a .942 save percentage in seven appearances. He also improved to 6-0 with the win.
“I think I’ve said it before, but I think just his demeanor, I don’t know if he knows how big these games are down the stretch,” said Murray. “Obviously, we’re playing for hopefully a couple trophies, and the rivalry games this weekend, he might not know a ton about the Northern-Tech rivalry, because it didn’t affect him at all.
“He’s just so calm in the net and I think gives our team confidence knowing that he’s back there and can make that big save when we need him to. He made a few on Friday, for sure, probably less so on Saturday. But, he stopped all the ones he needed to, obviously, getting a shutout. He’s been great for us. I think it gives our team confidence. We just have to keep playing good in front of him, keeping shots on the outside, and not giving them second-chance opportunities.”
Manzella played in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) last season for the St. Cloud Norsemen, going 13-10-8 with a 2.62 goals against average in 34 appearances. With the Sioux Falls Stampede of the United States Hockey League (USHL) this season, he was 7-2-1 with a 2.40 goals against average before joining the Huskies.
“We knew he was a good goalie,” Murray said. “He was talking to a couple other teams about being brought in at Christmas. So, he was probably one of the highest goalies on the list of available goalies to be brought in. We’re lucky we got him. I think we’ve done a pretty good job when he was in net, not allowing a ton of second-chance opportunities. There’s been a couple 2-on-1s where he’s made some pretty miraculous saves. But, for the most part, I think, our style of play has limited some of the high-percentage scoring chances that you might see in a run and gun league like the USHL or the NAHL. So, maybe that’s part of it.
“I think our structure has been good, (but it) can always improve. So, maybe that’s helped with his numbers. But also, I would say, as good as he’s playing, it’s a small sample, and we need him to stay hungry and compete every day. He still needs to earn the net in practice (for) Friday, and then keep running with it.”
Murray also likes what he is seeing from a pair of Finnish-born forwards in Koskipirtti, a sophomore, and Elias Janssen, a freshman.
Koskipirtti scored a shorthanded goal on Saturday night in the second period against the Wildcats.
“Max is a really effective player on both sides of the ice, both sides of the puck,” said Murray. “I’d say he’s probably one of our smartest players. You can trust him in all situations, and he plays all situations for us. It was nice for him to get a shorthanded goal, but you could just tell the whole game he was going. When his legs are moving like that, when he’s at speed, he’s tough to slow down, and it’s tough to stop.
“We would just like him to get the puck more often. I thought he had a lot of puck touches on Saturday, got into a rhythm early in the game, and had a few chances. He scored on that shorthand, which was great to see.”
Janssen scored twice on the power play Friday night, including the game-winner, and added another into the empty net on Saturday.
“I think especially on Friday, on the line chart, he was listed on our fourth line to start the game,” Murray said. “It’s because we want to see a little bit more energy out of him. When he has a puck, he can make plays. But, we wanted to see him forecheck a little bit harder, win more battles, get to the net, recover pucks on the power play. That’s how he got both his goals on Friday. One started with a puck recovery in the corner, and then he gets lost back door, and Max finds him. Then the next one was a rebound goal in front.
“Those have been things we’ve been stressing to him, and weren’t seeing it out of his game, so we wanted to challenge him a little bit. We put him on a different line, and then he was back on his second line with Max (later) on Friday. I thought he played good, again, but it’s freshmen. We just need them to bring consistency every game, and he knows that. It’s our job to keep reminding them, challenging them, pushing them, and guiding them. But, I thought it was a big weekend for him. He stepped up. We just got to keep that going.”
Looking ahead, the Huskies used their second-half bye week last year, and then a sweep over Bowling Green State the following weekend, to spring themselves into a second-place regular season finish, a Mason Cup title, and a third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. Murray feels that the Huskies could get on a similar run this season.
“We’ve shown that we can play and beat anyone,” he said. “We haven’t beaten some of the ranked teams in tournaments, but we play with them and play them hard. So, yeah, I think there’s belief in our team that we can go on a run like we did last year. We just have to stay focused, not get too far ahead of ourselves. The focus is us this week, then Bemidji (State) next week, and then we move on to Augustana.
“There’s some big games coming up.”