Suns (10-4-1) await Jackson Moose
Smith, Nikolaisons score hat tricks against Jets
They had one letdown.
But the Sun Valley Suns (10-4-1) also benefited from hat
tricks by Luke Smith and Vilnis Nikolaisons during the visit of the
Michigan Jets for a two-game series last weekend.
It was a hard-fought twinbill, one the Suns needed with
their toughest rival, the Jackson Hole (Wyo.) Moose, coming to Sun Valley
Skating Center for games Friday and Saturday, Feb. 23-24 at 7 p.m.
Former Dartmouth College skater Smith (12 goals, 12
assists season) tallied three goals in Friday’s 5-5 overtime tie with
the Jets. Nikolaisons (17-28 for 45) scored three in Saturday’s comeback
7-4 win over Michigan.
With Saturday’s victory, the Suns made it eight wins in
11 games since their 11-4 and 7-4 New Year’s losses at Jackson Hole Dec.
29-30. They also exceeded the victory total of last winter’s 9-14-1 Suns
squad.
And, if not for Friday’s third-period letdown when the
Jets scored three goals in a three-and-a-half minute span to turn a 4-2
deficit into a 5-4 lead, the Suns might have swept their third series of
the season.
Suns coach Chris Benson said after Saturday’s 7-4
triumph, "The Jets have a good hockey team and it was a good tune-up
for us with the Moose coming in. Tonight we had a very good second
period."
Trailing 2-0 and 3-2, the Suns took the lead for good
early in the second when Nikolaisons scored twice in 15 seconds to
complete his hat trick. Goals by Kris Webster, John Stevens (shorthanded)
and Smith made it five unanswered goals and a 7-3 lead.
Friday, the Suns outshot the Jets 50-24 but ex-Michigan
State goalie Tom Nowland (45 saves) was a big factor in the overtime tie
that was cluttered up by a crowd-pleasing rash of fist fights and
ejections in the third.
Squandering a comfortable lead with porous defense, the
Suns seemed ready to lose their second straight one-goal Friday night game
before Webster, Jamie Ellison and John Stevens took exception to some Jets
high sticks and started throwing fists.
The fights fired up the Suns, who outshot the Jets 19-5 in
the third period and in the five-minute OT.
But it was the patience of Nikolaisons on the point of a
Suns power play with nine minutes left in regulation that helped force the
tie.
Instead of blasting a shot, Nikolaisons waited and waited
until his teammates lined up, then he slid a pass ahead to Jake Glotfelty.
Glotfelty put a shot on goal that Smith tipped past Nowland for his hat
trick.
The Suns, unbeaten in their last six games with the
Michigan sextet, improved their advantage to 16-7-4 in the 14-season
rivalry with the Jets.
But they’ll have their work cut out against the Moose.
Jackson Hole improved to 16-2 on the season with two 7-2
whippings of the reigning National Senior Elite champion Minnesota Bucks
Feb. 9-10.
The Moose, runner-up team in the 2000 National Senior
tournament, have owned the Suns recently, winning six straight by a 49-28
margin and hiking their advantage to 8-5-1 in the four-year series.
