News flash: Hockey games are seldom won from the penalty box.
Update: This information evidently has not reached the Seawolves, or they simply have not digested it.
After committing one penalty in a loss at Bemidji State on Friday night, UAA returned to its familiar, well-skated path Saturday night -- namely, a frequent glide to the box -- in a 3-1 loss to the Beavers.
The Seawolves' eighth consecutive loss, all in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, not only made for a lost weekend, but further damaged their chances of making the league playoffs. Last-place UAA (7-18-4, 4-18-2 WCHA), a 3-2 loser Friday, remains three points behind idle Lake Superior State of Michigan with four games remaining.
The playoff ship hasn't quite sailed for the Seawolves, but the masts are up and the lines are being unmoored. The team that finishes last in the league will be the only team eligible for the WCHA postseason that will not qualify for the playoffs.
Those eight straight losses tie for the sixth-longest losing streak in UAA's 36-season hockey history.
UAA afforded Bemidji State (14-14-1, 10-10-4 WCHA) eight power plays, marking the 11th time in 30 games the Seawolves have gifted opponents six or more power-play opportunities.
Unsurprisingly, the game turned on Seawolves penalties. The teams were tied 1-1 at the Sanford Center when UAA defenseman Derek Docken was cited for holding at the end of the second period. Teammate Brett Cameron took a hooking penalty 51 seconds into the third period, which delivered the Beavers a two-man advantage for 70 seconds. They only required 15 to assume a 2-1 lead.
Gerry Fitzgerald scored off feeds from Matt Prapavessis and Leo Fitzgerald.
Still, nearly 19 minutes remained for UAA to generate the equalizer. But with 10 minutes to go, Seawolves defenseman Austin Sevalrud picked up a major penalty for contact to the head and got the gate with a game misconduct. UAA killed that major, but it represented five minutes when the Seawolves' greatest concern was avoiding a two-goal deficit rather than forging a tie.
The major penalty was UAA's 13th of the season. Its opponents have been whistled for six.
UAA, which earlier led Division I in penalty minutes per game, ranks second with 16.5 per game, just behind Western Michigan's 16.6 -- the Broncos have taken two more penalty minutes than the Seawolves, and each team has played 30 games.
Bemidji's Nate Arentz scored into an empty net in the final minute to seal his team's fourth straight victory.
The Beavers outshot the Seawolves 40-19, which marked the seventh time this season UAA has been outshot by a margin of 2-to-1 or worse. In two other games, just one shot separated the Seawolves from being outshot by a 2-to-1 margin.
The Seawolves wasted a 37-save performance from freshman goaltender Olivier Mantha.
UAA got off to a relatively strong start, using Tad Kozun's deflection goal eight minutes into the game to earn a 1-0 lead that marked the first time it opened the scoring since its last win, a 3-2 overtime road victory over UAF on Jan. 17. Connor Wright of Anchorage, playing in his fifth career game, picked up his first career point with an assist on the goal.
Mantha held the fourth-place Beavers in check until Prapavessis beat him with a slap shot 14 minutes into the second period.
UAA's remaining schedule makes its playoff prospects difficult.
Granted, the Seawolves' final four games are on home ice at Sullivan Arena. But this week they entertain third-place Bowling Green, which is ranked No. 8 nationally. And they close with a two-game series against sixth-place UAF. The Nanooks no doubt will be bitter to avenge UAA's sweep in Fairbanks in January and finish on a high note in a season in which they are ineligible for postseason play because of NCAA violations in previous season.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockey-blog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr