MANKATO — It felt like the Minnesota State men’s hockey team was on the verge of taking its first lead of the series against Michigan Tech.
After gaining momentum during a scoreless second period, MSU’s Brian Carrabes scored to tie the game at 1-1 at 1:15 of the third.
However, the Huskies ended up scoring the next goal on a tough break for MSU en route to a 3-2 CCHA win over the Mavericks at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center Saturday. Tech won Game 1 of the series 3-2 in overtime Friday.
“We have to address our starts,” Carrabes said. “I thought our second and third periods were the best two periods we’ve played all year. I give a lot of credit to our coaches … they give us a great game plan, it’s just about us executing.”
For a third straight game, MSU surrendered the first goal when Tech’s Isaac Gordon scored at 18:11 of the third period.
The Mavericks got 14 shots on goal during the second period, but couldn’t get a puck past Huskies’ goalie Blake Pietila.
After Carrabes scored early in the third, Tech got the all-important second goal at 11:24. An MSU player broke his stick just prior to the goal and was rushing to the bench for a change when the Huskies scored.
“In the middle of getting off the ice with a broken stick — they score,” Strand said. “A guy with a broken stick inside your own D zone can’t do anything … if we had to do it over, we’d probably do the same thing.”
Tech made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 18:43, before MSU’s Luc Wilson scored an empty-net goal at 19:32.
Shots on goal favored the Mavericks 31-28. Alex Tracy made 25 saves in the loss.
The Mavericks (5-6-1, 3-3 in CCHA) will play a CCHA road series at Lake Superior State next weekend.
Follow Kevin Dudley on Twitter @Dudley7Kevin.