Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette Hancock defenseman Max Heinonen looks for a teammate to pass to during a game against Capital City Saturday at the HoCo Arena in Hancock.

By DAVER KARNOSKY

dkarnosky@mininggazette.com

HANCOCK — The Hancock Bulldogs hockey team overcame a two-goal deficit, but could not find a third goal before the Capital City Capitals found it with less than seven minutes remaining to skate away with a 3-2 win over the home squad at the HoCo Arena in Hancock.

The Capitals scored the game-winning goal at 10:05 of the third period when captain Will Tucker crashed the net. Chase Potter fired a shot from the top of the right circle that junior goaltender Isaac Johnson tried to glove. However, the puck fell out of his glove and right to Tucker, who buried it.

For the Capitals, having a better result than their 2-0 loss to the Calumet Copper Kings on Friday was a focus.

“I had a lot of ups and downs,” said Capitals coach Joe Ford. “I liked our start. Obviously, we were coming off a tough game last night against Calumet, where we played them hard and didn’t come away with it.

“I was pleased with how we responded early on. Obviously, (we) jumped out, and then, of course, they’re good. They responded with their own, got their power play going.”

Ford admitted that he was concerned about his team’s demeanor after starting the third period with 4:55 of a five-minute major, but not being able to take advantage of the situation.

“We started the third period on a five-minute major, couldn’t really get much going there,” he said. “So, you worry as a coach, momentum-wise, are we going to be able to fight through that? We did. I was really proud of our group to fight through that.”

At the other end of the ice, through the first two periods, the Bulldogs (5-8 overall) had several opportunities, but were only able to muster a pair of goals.

“The effort was there,” said Bulldogs coach Pete Rouleau. “We were just talking. We have to play smarter. A couple times, we take chances when we don’t have to. We make a soft play when we don’t have to. We have to recognize when we should jump, when we shouldn’t. We’re getting there. We’re getting better each game. But yeah, we had chances. Their goalie played well.”

Shaun Story, a junior, made 28 saves on 30 Bulldogs shots through the first 34 minutes of play. He added another six stops in the third to help his team earn the win.

“Obviously, we got some great saves from Shaun,” Ford said. “He played very well for us, and we thrived on that, took advantage of it.

“He’s a calming presence, and with him, there’s really no second chances. It’s a one shot and there’s not a lot of rebounds and not a lot of scrambling time afterwards. We try to make an emphasis to make sure that he can see the puck. He’s got clear vision lens. When he does, it’s going to be a save 95% of the time. That’s what you ask for, and he also does a tremendous job back there playing the puck. So, it gives us an immediate edge on the breakout and on exits, and we’re happy about that.”

The first shot that beat Story came off the stick of sophomore forward Brady Axford, who took a feed from senior center Damian Colombe, skated across the slot and beat him with a wrist shot at 15:16 of the opening frame, which cut the visitors’ lead to 2-1.

Freshman winger Luciano Paoli evened things up in the second period during a four-minute power play in just 15 seconds. Sophomore defenseman Ted Heinonen got the puck over to Paoli in the left circle before his wrister sailed over Story’s blocker and in at 5:44.

The Bulldogs continued to throw pucks at Story, but nothing found a way to get past him.

“I think we are getting better each game,” Rouleau said. “Some guys want to do too much. They want to be that guy, and sometimes, they have to just gear back a little bit and play their position. We don’t have to go end-to-end. We move the puck, and use your teammates.”

Rouleau also lamented the second period, despite the goal scored, as there several breaks in play due to penalties being called, which made the period more about special teams than even-strength play.

“I think in the second, there’s a lot of penalties, power play, penalty kill, so it’s tough, because our third line doesn’t get out there much,” he said. “A couple guys kill on it, but it’s just the flow of the game’s kind of gone. Guys are sitting for multiple minutes, and (it’s) tough to keep them in the game when you’re not getting out there. So it was a tough game to get into for everyone.

“Then the other two are out there all the time, and they’re getting run down a little bit. But, it’s a game. We have to find a way to win.”

The first goal the Capitals scored came on their first shot of the game 5:09 in when Tucker fired a wrist shot from the left circle that snuck through Johnson.

Roman Barnes then gave Capital City the two-goal advantage at 9:35 when he found some space in the slot and one-timed a pass from Alex Gorsline past Johnson.

Johnson stopped 16 of 19 shots in the loss for the Bulldogs.

BULLDOGS WIN

FRIDAY OVER

WILDCATS

With two goals from Connor Helminen, the Bulldogs topped the Novi Wildcats Friday, 6-2. Hancock’s offense was led by a potent power play that went 3-for-5 in the contest.

Co-captain Tevin Stukel had a goal and two assists in the win. Tyler Axford scored a goal and added an assist.

Co-captain Max Heionen and Ben Keranen both had two assists.

Goaltender Adam Mikkola made 32 saves to earn the win.

UP NEXT

The Bulldogs are back in action Tuesday when they travel to face Kingsford.