Mavericks 3, Seawolves 2

Anchorage Daily News photo

Minnesota State started its long road swing on the right foot, defeating Alaska-Anchorage 3-2 on Friday night at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

The Mavericks got goals from Andrew Sackrison, Mike Louwerse and Anchorage native Eli Zuck but, more importantly, came up big on the penalty kill when they needed it most. Not only did they kill of Evan Mosey's five-minute major in the first period, but they faced a 5-on-3 for nearly two of the game's final three minutes.

"We battled," coach Troy Jutting said in a phone interview after the game. "We gutted it out. It wasn't pretty, but it was a win."

Read the Anchorage Daily News coverage of the game here. There's also a photo gallery of the game here.

"We did a great job on the 5 on 3," Jutting said. "Channing Boe, Tyler Elbrecht, Andy Sackrison ... we blocked shots. If there was a gutty win, that was it."

Goaltender Phil Cook was also solid for the third game in a row, stopping 29 shots. He allowed two goals by Justin Kirchhevel, one in the final second of the first period -- a tip-in on the power play -- and another deflected shot with 22 seconds remaining in the game. On the latter, the Mavericks had just finished killing the 5 on 3 and remaining 5 on 4 and the Seawolves had the goalie pulled for extra attacker.

"We're getting better with the penalty kill," Jutting said. "We got good goaltending, too. But we still need to continue to improve."

Kirchhevel's first goal put Anchorage up 1-0. The Mavericks bounced back with two goals in the second period. Sackrison scored at 5:34, getting assists from Chase Grant and Corey Leivermann, and Louwerse scored at 17:56 from Ben Youds and Elbrecht. Both were even-strength goals.

At 2:17 of the third period, Zuck scored a power-play goal with Kurt Davis and Zach Lehrke assisting.

"We scored a goal on the power play, which we have to do most nights," Jutting said.

Notes: The Mavericks (2-2-3, 2-2-1 in WCHA) put a season-low 18 shots on goal, with just four in the first period and four in the second. ... Mosey was playing for the first time since getting injured in the Mavericks' season opener. He was called for checking from behind at 11:48 of the first period, drawing the major and a game misconduct, which ended his night. ... MSU and UAA will play again at 10:07 p.m. (CDT) on Saturday.