Michigan Tech forward Stiven Sardarian controls the puck in the offensive zone during a game against St. Thomas on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — With back-to-back third place finishes in their two tournaments over the holiday break, the Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team improved to 11-7-2 overall. They defeated Northern Michigan to win the consolation game of the Great Lakes Invitational, and then, less than a week later, they won the consolation game of the Coachella Valley Cactus Cup in their first-ever game against Holy Cross. In their two losses, the Huskies battled to one-goal games against then-No. 5 Western Michigan, and then-No. 10 Massachusetts-Lowell.

All-in-all, not a bad six-day stretch, if you ask assistant coach Jordy Murray.

“We had a long break, and we had two basically flow practices to get into it before GLI, and then we (had) kind of a shorter week, because our last game ended on Monday, and then we played Friday,” he said. “So, I think they’ve gone OK. We played some good hockey, especially in third periods. We played well. Our details haven’t been great, which is probably expected with the few practices that we’ve had. They’re just getting guys going and back into hockey, so this will be a really big week.

“I think our details weren’t great over the last four games, and (we had) some poor turnovers and stuff that we didn’t have in the first half, the end of the first half, when we were playing really well. We should get back to practicing and then getting back into playing our game. I think, overall, we competed really hard. We’ve learned we can play with Top-10 teams, obviously, and we learned we can win some games in overtime. So, there’s definitely some positives we can take out of it.”

Both the win over the Wildcats and the one of the Crusaders, were 4-3 in overtime, with freshman forward Logan Morrell scoring the game-winning tally both times. The first-year Huskies skater is now tied for third in team scoring with nine goals and 14 points. He has 10 points, seven of which are goals, in his last seven games.

Playing alongside junior forward Stiven Sardarian has been beneficial to both players. Sardarian has two goals and 11 assists in his last six games.

The two have been playing alongside alternate captain Isaac Gordon the last several games.

“They’re just very different players, so I think that’s why they complement each other a lot,” said Murray. “Logan’s a little bit more of a power forward. He’s a little hard-nose. He’s not afraid to get to the corners and the pucks to those two players. He’s good with the puck, like he’s smart. He’ll win every faceoff. I shouldn’t say every faceoff, but he’ll win a lot of faceoffs, and then he’ll make quick, simple plays, which is what you want when you’re playing with some high end talent.”

Sardarian, who transferred prior to the season from New Hampshire, has grown into a leader with the Huskies this season, as he is tied for the team lead in goals (9) and leads in points (26).

“The way he possesses the puck is incredible,” Murray said. “I don’t know if there’s another player in the country who can hold onto the puck as long, and as well as he can, always have in a position where he can make a play with it at any time. You never know what he’s going to do. Even us as the coaches on the bench, we’re not sure what he’s going to do when he has it. And then his elusive speed is something you don’t really see super often.

“It doesn’t look like he’s moving fast at all. Then, all of a sudden, he beats a defenseman wide and does this little hip shuffle and picks up speed, and he’s really tough to stop. He’s playing really well with Logan right now, which is fantastic. And Gordo fits really well with that line.”

With the early-season injury to junior goaltender Max Vayrynen, the Huskies have turned to fifth-year transfer Derek Mullahy, who has played well, starting 15 games and sporting a 6-6-2 record with a 2.35 goals against average and .914 save percentage. However, the Huskies did need to find someone who could give Mullahy a rest, and they appear to have found that in freshman Ryan Manzella, who was playing in the USHL for Sioux Falls.

He appeared in two games, one as a replacement, and the other as the starter, in the two tournaments, and the coaching staff likes what they see.

“He’ll make some, some really big saves when we need it,” said Murray. “I think it’s nice bringing a new goalie in like Ryan, who might be able to help with some of this load. When he’s (Mullahy) a little banged up, which he’s been banged up and now he’s feeling good, we gave him a little rest against Holy Cross.

“It’s nice to have someone like Ryan coming in who can help shelter that a little bit and give him rest when he needs it. I think Ryan played two good games. He’s been thrown into the fire pretty quickly here. Getting his first day on campus, we arrived at 3:30 Monday morning, and he’s never seen the rink, never seen the locker room. So that was his first experience. I think he might have made it up for his 9 a.m. class the next day. I hope he did, but he’s been thrown into the fire, and he’s done a really good job.”

SCOUTING THE LAKERS

The Huskies return to the friendly confines of the MacInnes Student Ice Arena this weekend as they host the Lake Superior State Lakers, who are currently fifth in the CCHA standings with a record of 8-11-1 overall and 6-6 in conference play. They are in the midst of a four-game losing streak after dropping both games last weekend to Bowling Green State at home.

The Lakers are led by junior forward Connor Milburn, who has seven goals and 17 points in 19 games. Junior forward Sasha Teleguine leads the team in goals (9) and has 13 points in 20 games.

Senior defenseman Nate Schweitzer leads the team in assists with 12, and has 13 points in 20 games as well.

In goal, freshman Rorke Applebee has picked up where Ethan Langenegger left off. He has started 19 games, going 8-9-1 with a 2.76 goals against average and a .911 save percentage in his first season in Sault Ste. Marie.

GAME TIMES

The Huskies and Lakers will face off Friday at 7:07 p.m. at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. Saturday, the two teams will do battle again, this time at 6:07 p.m.