Anchorage Daily News

The Seawolves didn't just shift their idling offense into gear Saturday night, they floored it into overdrive and left nationally ranked Denver in the rear-view mirror.

After scoring six goals in its first five Western Collegiate Hockey Association games this season, UAA erupted for three goals in a second-period span of less than two minutes and throttled the Pioneers 7-3 at Sullivan Arena.

That seven-goal outburst marked the most goals UAA has scored in any game in nearly eight years -- since racking an 8-1 home-ice win over Michigan Tech on Jan. 4, 2002.

The win stopped a 13-game, home-ice winless streak (0-11-2) against the Pioneers that dated back nearly 10 years. UAA's previous win against Denver at Sullivan came by a 2-1 count on Jan. 29, 2000.

The victory also snapped UAA's three-game losing streak, lifted it out of a last-place tie in the WCHA and improved it to 4-6-0 overall and 2-4-0 in league. It also killed Denver's five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1).

And to hear junior winger Sean Wiles tell it, the Seawolves were so starved for goals they were ready to feast on the Pioneers (6-3-1, 4-1-1 WCHA), who are ranked No. 2 in one national poll, No. 3 in another.

"We were just hungry for pucks, competing hard,'' said Wiles, who scored two goals Saturday and three in the series after scoring three goals in his previous 53 career games. "This was a big game for us and we played hard. Our mentality tonight scored us seven goals.''

UAA scored two power-play goals, which matched its total in those five previous league games. And senior winger Josh Lunden, the team's leading active career goal scorer, scored his first goal in seven games. Senior Kevin Clark bagged his first in four games, and freshmen Daniel Naslund and Lee Baldwin scored their first career goals.

"We talked about creating your own puck luck,'' said UAA coach Dave Shyiak. "You do that by going to the paint and getting bodies to the net.''

That's exactly how the Seawolves cracked Pioneers freshman goaltender Adam Murray of Anchorage.

A pivotal point came shortly after Denver's Rhett Rakhshani scored a 5-on-3, power-play goal to give the Pioneers a 2-1 lead four minutes into the second period. On another Denver power play about one minute later, UAA junior goalie Bryce Christianson flashed his glove to rob Rakhshani on a breakaway.

Five minutes later, Clark kick-started UAA's three-goal burst with his power-play deflection of Kane Lafranchise's drive to forge a 2-2 tie.

"The whole complexion of the game changed,'' said Denver coach George Gwozdecky.

Naslund scored 29 seconds after Clark, redirecting Luka Vidmar's shot moments after Vidmar rang a shot off iron. And 72 seconds after Naslund's go-ahead goal, Curtis Leinweber finished a 2-on-1 rush with Tommy Grant by batting Grant's rebound out of midair with the shaft of his stick for a 4-2 cushion. That proved sweet redemption for Leinweber, who in Friday's 3-2 loss to Denver, put the puck in his own net.

Murray, a true freshman whose 22 saves coupled with Rakhshani's two goals to furnish Friday's win, is Denver's No. 1 goalie of the moment. That's because junior star Marc Cheverie is out after 30 stitches were required to close a cut to his left calf suffered last week in a goal-mouth collision against Minnesota State-Mankato.

Murray surrendered goals to Baldwin and Wiles in the first six minutes of the third period. Wiles scored on a breakaway backhander through the pads after stealing the puck from Denver defenseman William Wrenn of Anchorage to give the Seawolves a 6-2 cushion and chase Murray (nine saves).

"That was as much about our team as Adam,'' Gwozdecky said of pulling Murray for Lars Paulgaard.

About the only downer for the Seawolves was that they will be without Lafranchise for the series opener at Wisconsin on Friday. Lafranchise was issued a major penalty and game disqualification for kneeing when he leveled Denver standout defenseman Patrick Wiercioch with a third-period hip check. By NCAA rule, a player charged with a game disqualification must sit out his team's next game.

Shyiak assembled a couple of new forward lines Saturday, but one of the two lines he kept intact -- Naslund centering Wiles and freshman left wing Mickey Spencer -- flourished. That trio lent a hand in three goals and was UAA's sharpest line all weekend, which is why Shyiak started them Saturday.

Lunden said the Seawolves' offensive breakthrough injected them with a shot of confidence.

"It just proves to us we can score, and it takes doing it to really know it,'' he said. "It was hard work. It took one guy driving to the net, or a guy making a play for another guy, or a guy making a nice pass.''

Find Doyle Woody's hockey blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.

Denver 1 1 1 -- 3

UAA 1 3 3 -- 7

First Period -- 1, DU, Wiercioch 2 (Glasser), 5:59; 2, UAA, Wiles 2 (Baldwin, Naslund), 17:05. Penalties -- Donovan, DU (tripping), 6:14; Wiles, UAA (interference), 13:15; Parkinson, UAA (tripping), 14:19; K. Ostrow, DU (hooking), 14:42.

Second Period -- 3, DU, Rakhshani 7 (Wiercioch, Ruegsegger), 3:58 (pp); 4, UAA, Clark 5 (Lafranchise, Baldwin), 10:34 (pp); 5, UAA, Naslund 1 (Vidmar), 11:03; 6, UAA, Leinweber 2 (Grant), 12:15. Penalties -- Clark, UAA (hooking), 3:09; Clark, UAA (hooking), 3:09; Crowell, UAA (boarding), 3:51; Tuton, UAA (tripping), 6:57; Spencer, UAA (roughing), 9:33; Wrenn, DU (roughing), 9:33; Lee, DU (holding), 10:09; Clark, UAA (slashing), 17:35.

Third Period -- 7, UAA, Baldwin 1 (Clark, Grant), 2:27 (pp); 8, UAA, Wiles 3, 5:55; 9, DU, Ruegsegger 5 (Maiaini), 15:53 (pp); 10, UAA, Lunden 3 (Bruijsten), 17:48. Penalties -- Wrenn, DU (elbowing, contact to head), :50; Donovan, DU (roughing), 1:59; Baldwin, UAA (hooking), 3:11; Haddad, UAA, double minor (hooking, grasping face mask), 6:15; Salazar, DU, double minor (hitting after whistle, grasping face mask), 6:15; Martin, DU (grasping face mask), 6:15; Vidmar, UAA (roughing), 6:15; Colborne, DU (interference), 6:35; Glasser, DU (hooking), 8:12; Lafranchise, UAA, major-game disqualification, served by Bruijsten (kneeing), 12:34; Rakhshani, DU (cross-checking), 16:31; Grant, UAA (embellishment), 16:31; Tuton, UAA (hooking), 19:08.

Shots on goal -- Denver 6-11-6--23. UAA 4-8-6--18.

Power-play Opportunities -- DU 2 of 10; UAA 2 of 7.

Goalies-- DU, Murray, 2-3-1 (15 shots-9 saves); Paulgaard, enter 5:55 third period (3-2). UAA, Christianson, 2-3-0 (23-20).

A -- 3,038 (6,251). T -- 2:33.

Referees -- Justin Brown, Brett Klosowski. Assistant referees -- Scott Sivulich, Steve Glines.

UAF tops Irish

Derek Klassen scored a pair of third-period goals Saturday, including an empty-netter, to lead UAF to a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over Notre Dame at the Carlson Center.

The win gave the Nanooks a split of their weekend series with Notre Dame, which handed UAF its first defeat Friday.

Ben Ryan gave the Irish a 1-0 lead in the second period, but UAF scored three times in the third period.

UAF improved to 6-1-1 and 3-1-0 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

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