CNATI: Cincinnati OH Sports Journalism

Miami only scored one goal on Friday.

But the RedHawks had no shortage of offense on Saturday as they pounded Alaska, 5-0 at Carlson Center in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Saturday.

Miami scored three goals in the first 15 minutes, and sophomore goaltender Connor Knapp stopped 21 shots to record his third shutout of the season. The RedHawks took 5 of 6 points on the weekend and opened up a seven-point lead on second place Michigan State for the CCHA lead.

Miami also has two games in hand over the Spartans, who lost to Ohio State on Saturday.

Freshman forward Reilly Smith, sophomore forward Matt Tomassoni and senior forward Jarod Palmer netted first-period goals, chasing sophomore goaltender Scott Greenham.

Junior forward Tommy Wingels made it 4-0 just over five minutes into the third period, and senior forward Brandon Smith capped off the scoring with 2:57 remaining.

Reilly Smith, Brandon Smith, Wingels and Tomassoni finished with two points each to lead Miami, which notched its seventh team shutout. The RedHawks' previous record was four.

Miami concludes its final multi-weekend road trip of the regular season 3-0-1, and will not leave Ohio until at least the CCHA Tournament.

BOTTOM LINE: Miami absolutely dominated every facet of the game on Saturday, completing a 1-0-1 weekend in Alaska and a 3-0-1 road trip.

The RedHawks are now in total control in the conference, with the fourth-, ninth-, 10th-, 11th- and 12th-ranked teams in the CCHA remaining on the schedule.

Seven of Miami's final 10 regular-season games will be played at Cady Arena.

GRADES

FORWARDS: A. They skated circles around the Nanooks, and goalposts stopped Miami from scoring at least two more goals.

They only took 18 shots, but five found the net.

DEFENSEMEN: A. Alaska didn't have many good scoring chances, and fired just 21 shots for the game.

The blueliners combined for three assists.

GOALTENDING: A. Shocking that Miami got solid goaltending, since RedHawks' netminders have held CCHA opponents to 1.17 goals per game. Knapp had every reason not to be sharp - he hasn't played in two weeks, and then didn't face many shots early, but he still made all 21 stops.

Miami allowed one goal for the weekend.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Miami and Alaska combined for 54 penalty minutes, but the teams combined to go 0-for-17 on the power play.

Miami killed all 10 of Alaska's man-advantage opportunities, and the RedHawks were 0-for-7 on the power play.

LINEUP CHANGES: Freshmen Devin Mantha and Steve Mason were scratched on Saturday, and junior center Andy Miele and Tomassoni took their places.

Miele was suspended for Friday's game after receiving a disqualification penalty last Saturday at Ferris State, and Tomassoni played defense on Friday.

On defense, freshman Joe Hartman returned to the lineup after sitting out his first game of the season on Friday. He replaced Tomassoni, who moved to the fourth line.

Knapp was in net after Reichard had started three straight games, and obviously it proved to be the right call.