Even Mason Mitchell thoughtfully second-guessed Mason Mitchell.
The UAA freshman winger spearheaded a 3-on-1 rush in the final minute of overtime in Saturday night's 1-1 nonconference hockey tie with Penn State, and he chose to fire a wrist shot from the left circle.
Mitchell, who less than three minutes into the game at Sullivan Arena beat Nittany Lions senior goaltender Matthew Skoff with a bullet to the blocker side, tried to beat Skoff to the glove side in OT. Skoff squeezed his left arm to his torso, absorbed the puck high on his chest and cradled it for a whistle.
"I probably should have passed,'' Mitchell said in hindsight.
His center, Blake Tatchell, said he was locked and loaded to shoot if he received a pass. Still, Tatchell is a playmaker – 65 assists in 120 career games – and he confessed that had he received the puck from Mitchell, there was a strong chance he would have tried to relay it back to his left winger.
Mitchell also mused that maybe he should have tried to beat Skoff again to the blocker side, as he did earlier.
"I rolled the dice, and lost,'' Mitchell said.
At least Mitchell's shot was on net and forced Skoff to make a play.
"It was a nice save,'' Mitchell said.
UAA coach Matt Thomas said it's easy to second-guess. Say Mitchell tried to make a pass, the play was broken up and kick-started a Penn State counter-attack – then the conventional wisdom becomes that Mitchell should have shot. Or say Mitchell tried to thread a shot into either top corner of the net and missed, and the puck rimmed around the glass to initiate a Nittany Lions rush – then puckheads say Mitchell at the very least should have put his shot on net.
"There's 100 different ways to play everything,'' Thomas said.
As it was – Mitchell unloaded a good, hard shot, Skoff delivered a better save and the outcome seemed fitting for a tie.
The tie put UAA at 6-4-2 heading into a two-week, Western Collegiate Hockey Association trip that takes the Seawolves to Minnesota State-Mankato and Michigan Tech. Penn State, which beat UAA 5-2 Friday, is 8-2-2 and unbeaten in its last five games (3-0-2).
In the UAA net Saturday was sophomore Olivier Mantha, the Seawolves stalwart. He wasn't sharp Friday, and while Thomas said he considered playing sophomore Jared D'Amico for a "hockey heartbeat'' Saturday, he stuck with Mantha.
"I didn't want him stewing on (Friday's performance) for a week,'' Thomas said. "He's our guy. You lean on him.''
Mantha during a team meeting Saturday saw his name written as the starting goaltender on a whiteboard that detailed Saturday night's lineup.
"I was really happy to get a chance – redemption for me,'' Mantha said. "It means everything. It's good for your confidence.''
And he delivered, stopping 36 shots. That included a third-period glove save on Vince Pedrie's drive from the left point shortly after a miscommunication with his defense behind the net forced Mantha to scramble back to his crease just in the nick of time. He also got his glove on a Kenny Brooks shot with less than two minutes left in regulation.
Mitchell furnished UAA a 1-0 lead just 2:23 into the game when he accepted defenseman Blake Leask's long, crisp pinpoint pass in stride at the red line for a 2-on-1. He beat Skoff for his third goal of the season and pushed his point streak to three games.
Penn State finally countered on a major power play in the third period that came when UAA winger Austin Azurdia received a major penalty for interference on Nittany Lions winger Curtis Loik (game-high six shots).
Mantha said he was screened and never saw the center-point slap shot from Nittany Lions defenseman Luke Juha, whose rocket zipped over Mantha's shoulder and just under the crossbar for a 1-1 tie less than seven minutes into the third period.
After the teams each fired eight shots in the first period, Penn State carried play. The Nittany Lions in the second period and through more than 13 minutes of the third period outshot the Seawolves 20-5 in that span for a 28-13 shot advantage overall to that point.
The major penalty seemed to spark the Seawolves, who by game's end were outshot 37-21.
"It did fuel us up,'' Mitchell noted.
Seawolves notes
UAA is 3-4-1 on home ice.
Mitchell owns 2-3—5 totals in his three-game point streak.
Thomas juggled his top three lines. In OT, Tatchell's line and Matt Anholt's line alternated every other shift with the exception of one shift for Nicolas Erb-Ekholm's line.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockeyblog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
Penn State 0 0 1 0 1
UAA 1 0 0 0 1
First Period – 1, UAA, Mitchell 3 (Leask, Sevalrud), 2:23. Penalties – Pedrie, Penn State (cross-checking), 4:52.
Second Period -- None. Penalties – Williams, UAA (slashing), 5:10; Brooks, Penn State (hooking), 6:01; Thompson, Penn State (tripping), 10:26.
Third Period – 2, Penn State, Juha 2 (Goodwin, Glen), 6:31 (pp). Penalties – Azurdia, UAA, major (interference), 1:47; Scheid, Penn State (interference), 3:16; Goodwin, Penn State (face-off violation, illegal use of hands), 14:49.
Overtime -- None. Penalties -- None.
Shots on goal – Penn State 8-7-19-3—37. UAA 8-3-6-4—21.
Power-play Opportunities – Penn State 1 of 3. UAA 0 of 4.
Goalies – Penn State, Skoff, 2-1-3 (21 shots-20 saves). UAA, Mantha, 5-4-2 (37 shots-36 saves).
A – 1,669. T – 2:28.
Referees -- Brett Klosowski, Kevin Langseth. Assistant referees – Travis Jackson, Carl Saden.