Game Day - Survive and Advance

Game Day

CCHA Playoffs, Round 1, Game 3

Alaska Nanooks vs Michigan State Spartans

7:05PM AKST - Carlson Center, Fairbanks, AK

Live Stats: AlaskaNanooks.com | Live Audio: KCBF 820 Sports

Live Internet Video ($9): AmericaOne | Radio: 820 AM Fairbanks

Twitter: @NanookHockey

Not a lot can be said about what the Nanooks need to do tonight to move on. The players know it, the coaches know it, and I'm sure that you the fans know it as well. The whole season is on the line tonight, its as simple as win and advance or lose and watch on TV.

The Nanooks' effort last night was great as they were focused on getting scoring chances and taking away the neutral zone from Michigan State, forcing them to carry the puck across the blue line the majority of the time. When the Spartans did gain a clean entry, the Nanooks' backcheck was extremely effective in creating turnovers and forcing the play in the other direction.

Same keys to tonight's victory here, but the Nanooks may be facing a fresh goaltender. Jake Hildebrand, a freshman from Butler, PA has seen the majority of action for the Spartans this season, going 7-15-2 in 24 starts with a 2.30 GAA and a .930 save percentage. Not terrible numbers, but also no playoff experience for this young netminder as well. Throughout the season, the Spartans have held somewhat well defensively just have had a struggle scoring goals. Tonight, Michigan State's line chart shows essentially a complete shuffle of the forward lines as head coach Tom Anastos tries to remedy the production.

On the Nanooks side, Colton Beck still remains unavailable as Richard Coyne will see action again tonight. Right winger Andy Taranto is a game time decision as he battles an injury, but he looked good in the Nanooks preskate today, so he should go. However Max Dumond has been taking reps today and will go through warmup preparations in case Taranto needs to sit out. Other than that, the same lines from last night will roll again tonight as the Nanooks look to close out the series and advance to round 2 in Kalamazoo. 

Lines for tonight: 

Alaska Nanooks

F1 7 Nik Yaremchuk - 37 Cody Kunyk - 29 Andy Taranto (A)

F2 17 Jarret Granberg - 27 Tyler Morley - 25 Nolan Youngmun

F3 12 Garrick Perry - 14 Adam Henderson (C) - 24 Nolan Huysmans

F4 5 Richard Coyne - 20 Matt Friese - 11 Alec Hajdukovich

D1 6 Michael Quinn - 4 Colton Parayko

D2 22 Josh Atkinson - 18 Trevor Campbell

D3 13 Kaare Odegard (A) - 23 Nolan Kaiser

G1 39 John Keeney

G2 1 Steve Thompson

G3 38 Sean Cahill