Michigan Tech goaltender Ryan Manzella tracks the puck during a game against Lake Superior State Saturday, Jan. 11, at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — Coming off a tough weekend on the road against the then-No. 12 Minnesota State Mavericks last weekend, the Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team returns home for a key home-and-home series with their rivals from 100 miles away, the Northern Michigan Wildcats.

The Wildcats, who went through an incredibly turbulent offseason that saw them lose a large chunk of their roster to the transfer portal, then add a large incoming freshman class and a number of transfers, then saw their coach leave for the professional ranks, then see another batch of players hit the portal, are playing their best hockey right now. They have won three of their last four games, and are playing for their playoff lives.

“Well, they’re breaking the puck out more efficiently,” said Huskies coach Joe Shawhan. “They compete really hard.”

Shawhan felt that the Huskies were missing that kind of urgency and efficiency last Friday against the Mavericks, who won the game 5-2.

“You know, I didn’t think we played well on Friday,” he said. “I didn’t think we executed. I didn’t think we competed hard. I think that showed up on our power play, how scattered (we were). We only got a couple, and they were in the third period, but it really showed how un-attentive to detail we were, probably (showing) some immaturity.”

While the Huskies struggled on Friday, Shawhan felt the team was much more attentive Saturday, and that allowed them to hold the Mavericks’ offense off the board.

“They were hard on the puck, so it was a really good challenge for us,” Shawhan said. “We hung in there. I thought we played a really good first half on Saturday night. I thought the second half was a little bit looser than we’d want to be. But, then we were able to get a good power play opportunity at the end and overtime, and we were able to get a goal. Our skilled players made a good play on that. Stiven (Sardarian) was very good on that power play and guys found openings and kind of played off him.”

Alternate captain Isaac Gordon, a sophomore forward, found the back of the net for the third time in his last nine games, which was a good sign for the Huskies moving forward.

“Gordon’s strength is he can find open areas, get shots off, and things like that,” said Shawhan. “The biggest area that we want him to get better at is being able to drive a line, to be the guy on the line that can make sure that offense occurs. He’s doing better in those areas. He’s doing better in those areas where he’s more efficient on the forecheck, and more efficient on his neutral zone, in creating offense off of defense. He’s getting better at that, and relying, maybe, a little bit less on guys making plays and getting him a puck, or him being able to float around and try to find that opening, but being more impactful in other areas.

“The best player in the world (Connor McDavid), that has the puck the most, is playing away from the puck, trying to get it back, to be quality with the time he does have the puck. So, it’s your play away from the puck that drives it. He’s getting better. ‘Gordo’s’ getting better in those areas, and that’s what he needs to do to work himself into a position to have a chance to be a pro, in my opinion.”

In the win on Saturday, freshman goaltender Ryan Manzella, who was added to the roster just prior to the Great Lakes Invitational, was strong again, earning his second career shutout in the process.

“I thought that Ryan did, obviously, a phenomenal job,” Shawhan said. “We still gave up a couple of pizzas that gave them a breakaway and a 2-on-1, and he came up big in those opportunities. Those are things we have to rectify. That’s primarily on our defense and trying to do too much.

“When we have forwards open, we want to get them the puck, and our ‘D’ (defensemen) like to carry it first. If they were 30-point D, we’d probably let them go a little bit more. But, the reality of it is, they have to be efficient. They have to defend and not put us in situations where we’re chasing the game a little bit. That happened, Ryan was there, and was able to get us out of it.”

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS

The Wildcats, who at point recently were 1-18-1, have won three of their last four games, splitting with the Mavericks two weeks ago before sweeping the Bemidji State Beavers this past weekend on the road.

Northern Michigan is 3-12-1 in CCHA play, and they trail the Ferris State Bulldogs in points by seven, but they are playing better hockey, and that could prove dangerous for every opponent they face the rest of the season.

They are led offensively by freshman forward Jakub Altrichter, who has three goals and 12 points. He scored all three of his goals and added an assist against the Beavers last weekend to earn the CCHA Rookie of the Week.

Freshman forward Grayden Slipec has also played well, scoring four goals and 10 points in 22 games. Another freshman forward, Ryan Duguay, leads the team in goals (6) and has seven points.

In goal, senior Ryan Ouellette has played the bulk of the minutes, starting 22 of 24 games. He has a 2.73 goals against average and a .922 save percentage.

HONORING TONY ‘O’

On Friday, the Huskies will honor former goaltender Tony Esposito prior to puck drop with the university’s Board of Trustees Silver Medal.

“You know what, he’s really probably the reason why kids my age in the Sault Ste. Marie, he’s from Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, everybody knew Tony (and) Phil Esposito,” said Shawhan, who grew up playing goal in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. “I was born 63, so that dates me a little bit, but you look at his time, so in 72 or 73, that season, I was about 10 years old. That’s right when you’re (getting excited about hockey). He got like 13 or 15 shutouts his first year. So, he was a name. So everybody wanted to be Tony Esposito, and everybody wanted to be Phil Esposito.

“You go over to Canada, and their pictures are all over the place. They’re the guys. They had the Tony and Phil Esposito Hockey School. They’d show up for like a half a day, but that was all you needed when you’re a little kid, just be able to see him, and have them sign something for you, or something like that. So for me, I was Tony Esposito.”

Shawhan admitted that he even wanted the same goalie mask Esposito wore.

“They sold the Tony Esposito masks, the street hockey mask that we all had back then, when goalies didn’t wear masks, a lot of times we all wore them,” he said. “You’d shovel driveways or do whatever, get a little bit extra money, run down to Woolworths and buy one, paint it up in art class, and wear it that night in a game.

“You go play a game that night and wear it. So, to me, he was kind of my idol as far as when I was growing up.”

GAME TIMES

The Huskies and Wildcats will face off Friday at 7:07 p.m. at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. Saturday, the two teams will be ready for their game to start at 6:07 p.m. at the Berry Events Center in Marquette.