No. 2 Miami scored four straight goals over a span of 13:15 and barely held on for a 5-4 win at Ferris State on Saturday to complete the series sweep of the Bulldogs.
No. 7 Ferris State was 11-0 at home entering this weekend, and had lost just one of its previous 16 games.
Neither team hit the net in the first period or the first eight minutes of the second, but the scoring drought was broken by three goals being scoring in 34 seconds and seven in the final 12 minutes of the middle stanza.
Senior defenseman Matt Case put FSU up, 1-0, but Miami sophomore defenseman Chris Wideman tied the score 20 seconds later.
Ferris State (16-6-2) had the last say for the time being when junior forward Mike Fillinger hit the net 14 seconds later, giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.
Then Miami's offense caught fire.
First junior forward Tommy Wingels tied the score with exactly five minutes remaining in the second period. Senior Jarod Palmer followed with his second goal of the weekend with 1:28 left in the period, and 57 seconds later sophomore Alden Hirschfeld notched a goal to give the RedHawks a 4-2 lead entering the final 20 minutes.
Wingels gave Miami (15-4-5) a three-goal lead with 11:45 left in the game, but Ferris State pulled to within one on a senior center Aaron Lewicki goal with 5:35 remaining.
The Bulldogs pulled their goalie, and freshman forward Matthew Kirzinger cut the deficit to one with 35 seconds left in the game, but the RedHawks held Ferris State off to complete the weekend sweep.
Miami junior center Carter Camper equaled his season high by recording three assists. Wingels finished with two goals and an assist - his third game with three or more points this season.
Palmer and Wideman also finished with a goal and an assist. Palmer led all RedHawks with four points on the weekend.
Miami takes a five-point lead over Michigan State, and Ferris State slips to third place, six points back of the RedHawks (although at present, the CCHA site has erroneously awarded Ferris State a 35th point on a shootout win).
BOTTOM LINE: The ending was a little nerve-racking, but the weekend turned out way better than expected. Miami is back in control in the CCHA.
It's unclear if Miami will move back into the top spot in the polls since Denver was idle this weekend, but DU had a substantial lead in the U.S. College Hockey Online and USA Today polls.
The most encouraging thing to me is that the offense is playing up to its potential. Occasionally, bad games happen both on offense and defense, but low-scoring games have been too common for a Miami team with this much talent (Miami has scored two or less goals in 11 of 24 games).
We all know how good the goaltending is, and the defense overall has been very solid in front of sophomores Cody Reichard and Connor Knapp, so seeing back-to-back strong offensive games in a hostile road environment bodes well for Miami's stretch run.
GRADES
OFFENSE: A. Miami's center and wings combined for four goals and nine assists. The RedHawks fell behind twice and battled back both times.
DEFENSEMEN: C+. Ferris State had 33 shots, well above Miami's average for the season. Wideman scored a goal in the second period, and he had the lone assist among Miami blueliners.
GOALTENDING: C+. Reichard, playing back-to-back games for the first time since early November, did not fare as well on the second night, but he was good enough to win. He stopped 29 of 33 shots for a mercurial save percentage of .879 but still gets kudos for winning in a high-stress game against a very hot opponent.
LINEUP CHANGES: Coach Enrico Blasi went with the same starting 18 as Friday, but he decided to start Reichard over Knapp.
Blasi's in a tough spot with his goaltenders - Knapp has been good, but Reichard has been exceptional. So the question he faces each weekend is whether to play Reichard twice or continue to let them split time.
Obviously, he decided Reichard was the better option tonight, but since he was only so-so, it makes the decision even more difficult next weekend.
Freshman forward Devin Mantha played his second straight game, and recorded an assist in both. He has three points in four games on the season, and went 17-9 on faceoffs.
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