They turned to junior forward Noah Maillette and sophomore forward Brody Donnelly in big moments, and both shone through as Donnelly scored a hat trick and Maillette had three points as the Gremlins’ 5-3 victory over the Hancock Bulldogs.

With the win, the Gremlins (17-8 overall) advance to face the Jeffers Jets on Tuesday.

For the Gremlins to earn the win without having co-captain Jace DeForge and junior winger Connor Arko available was a big boost of confidence, especially considering the Gremlins blew a 2-0 lead in the middle frame.

“It wasn’t pretty, but I think some of the ups and downs we’ve been through throughout the year help the response,” said Gremlins coach Micah Stipech. “You just never know who’s going to be the guy to step up when the lights are bright. In particular, when we had a two-goal lead and they came back, I’ve seen teenagers lock up and the momentum goes the other way. I was happy with our response to that. I think part of it is just, I guess, the resilience that our locker room has, but also what we’ve been through this year.”

Hancock forward Jackson Sintkowski fires a shot on goal during a Division 3 Region 17 semifinal game Wednesday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. (David Archambeau/Daily Mining Gazette)

The Bulldogs’ game plan was simple: get the first goal. They had a golden opportunity to do so with just under seven and a half minutes left in the first period when sophomore forward Brady Axford took a lead pass from his brother Tyler and skated in on a breakaway. Unfortunately, the puck bounced around and he was forced to shoot before he wanted to.

For the Gremlins, the plan was similar. They made a simple adjustment between periods, moving Donnelly onto a line with Maillette and co-captain Jay Halonen,and it paid off just 18 seconds into the second period when a rebound off a shot from senior defenseman Jack Rudak bounced to Donnelly, who buried it.

“It’s a cliche, but we really felt getting on the board first in this game was more important than usual, because of the losses that we’ve had recently, and letting doubt creep into your mind,” Stipech said. “So, we changed lines between the first and the second, going with lines that we’ve never had with Jay at center, Brody and Noah. We just needed a little bit more jam up the middle.”

Maillette and Donnelly connected for a second time at 1:54 when Maillette found Donnelly behind the Bulldogs’ defense. Donnelly skated in, deked to his backhand, and beat Hancock netminder Adam Mikkola.

“With ‘Sayener’ (Jack Sayen) there, they’re all playing a skill game, and Sayener and (Teegan Tapani) and (Braden) Kari had played together already. So, that’s what we went through. Then right away it paid off with a couple goals. So, I wish it always worked out like that.”

Bulldogs coach Pete Rouleau liked that his team did not quit just because they fell behind. On a power play a couple of minutes later, freshman defenseman Jax Pierner scored from the right point on the power play to get Hancock back into the game at 5:48.

Two minutes later, the Bulldogs were awarded a penalty shot as a Gremlins defender put his hand on the puck in the crease. Alternate captain Tevin Stukel took the opportunity, skated the puck in, deked to his forehand and he beat Houghton goaltender Brycyn Nettell with a wrist shot. However, he could not also defeat the post, which kept the puck out of the net.

Then, at 10:51, the Bulldogs struck again as sophomore forward Ben Keranen’s shot bounced off the back boards and right to senior forward Damien Colombe, who buried it.

“We didn’t give up,” Rouleau said. “We knew there was a lot of game left, and we got one, got a little momentum, got a second one.”

Hancock was awarded a power play in the late stages of the period and Rouleau thought his team could capture the lead in that moment.

“We have all the momentum right there, and if somehow we find a way to go up 3-2, who knows?” he said.

However, a pass back to Stukel got caught in his skates, which allowed Maillette to jump up, knock the puck loose, skate in alone from his own blue line, and score shorthanded at 14:37.

“Second period penalty kills are tough,” Stipech said. “We’re missing two of our penalty killers, so now we’re rotating four guys. They’re getting tired. We made a couple bad choices, and got caught out there long. They were winning all of their offensive zone faceoffs, so we’re starting defending right away. We got fatigued, and we’re so familiar with each other that their power play against our kill has improved throughout the year. We didn’t want to have to kill any more than we did.”

Donnelly struck for the third time just 27 seconds into the third period, giving Houghton a 4-2 lead when he knocked a loose puck in the crease into the net.

From there, Houghton held the Bulldogs at bay until the late stages of the period, when Rouleau pulled Mikkola for an extra attacker. Tapani cleared the puck out of the zone and then threw the puck into the empty net at 15:37.

However, that goal was quickly answered by co-captain Jackson Sintkowski with less than 27 seconds remaining.

“They didn’t give up,” said Rouleau. “They didn’t give up on us all year. It’s a resilient group. I love the guys. Sucks to come out on the short end.”

Mikkola made 24 saves in the loss for the Bulldogs, while Nettell stopped 21 to earn the win.

UP NEXT

The Gremlins will host the Jets on Tuesday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m.