It took 34 seconds for the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks to light the red lamp behind Ferris goaltender CJ Motte on Feb. 28 inside the Carlson Center.
The Nanooks came in having scored 26 goals in their last four games, and their offense went off again on Ferris, as they defeated the nationally ranked no. 4 Ferris State Bulldogs 4-1 in Fairbanks.
Nanook captain Colton Beck rifled home Alaska’s first goal of the evening 34 seconds into the contest, which closed out the scoring for the opening frame.
Alaska made it a 2-0 lead when Nolan Huysmans ripped another shot past Motte on the rush at 7:41 in the second period, with Tyler Morley following to make it 3-0 Nanooks at 13:12 in the second.
The Bulldogs broke the onslaught when senior forward Andy Huff scored on the power play at 15:41 in the second.
Ferris outshot Alaska 37-19 in the game, but the scoreboard told a different story.
Though the Bulldogs buzzed around Alaska goaltender Sean Cahill, one slip up sealed their fate. Garrick Perry buried the Bulldogs at 12:48 in the final stanza, solidifying the score at 4-1.
At 14:40 of the third period, both teams appeared to lose their composure when a post whistle tussle resulted in six penalties, including a game misconduct to Ferris sophomore forward Dakota Klecha.
The final five minutes went by slowly as each team continued to pound on the other, to which the officials did not stand for.
Alaska’s Huysmans was ejected at 17:04 from the game with another 10 minute game misconduct, and Ferris sophomore defensemen followed Klecha to an early shower after throwing a knee-to-knee hit on a Nanook player with 19 seconds to play in regulation.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota State Mavericks were celebrating a 5-0 rout of the Lake Superior State Lakers, in which the Mavericks outshot the Lakers 40-14.
The second place Mavericks are now two points behind first place Ferris, and each has three games to play.
If Minnesota State were to win out, Ferris would need to finish at least 2-0-1 to clinch the regular season WCHA title. If Ferris and Minnesota State were to tie atop the standings, Minnesota State would take first place, being that they swept the Bulldogs in their only meeting.
The Bulldogs will try to salvage a split with the Nanooks at 11:07 EST on March 1.