Special teams lead Hilltoppers past Spartans

The Duluth Marshall Hilltoppers snapped a three-game losing skid with a 5-1 win over the Superior High School boys hockey team Thursday night at Mars Lakeview Arena in Duluth.

Marshall improves to 8-7 overall and 1-1 in the Lake Superior Conference, while the loss drops Superior to 9-4-1 and 1-1.

Superior kept up with Marshall in shots on goal (38-38), but special teams played a huge role in the Hilltoppers’ win as they scored once on the power play and twice short-handed.

The Spartans had five of the game’s first six shots on goal and the first power-play opportunity when Marshall’s Luke Pavlich was called for cross checking 4:13 into the game.

Unfortunately for Superior, the Hilltoppers took a 1-0 lead when Jeremy Lopez scored short-handed with an assist from Kris McKinzie.

It went to 2-0 less than four minutes later when McKinzie scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season, which led to Superior calling its timeout.

Seconds after Superior’s Aaron Wakefield-Zubiate was stopped on a breakaway attempt by Marshall goaltender Caden Flaherty, it was the Hilltoppers who went on a power play and then eventually took a 3-0 lead when Lopez scored with 10 seconds remaining in the opening period.

Superior outshot Marshall 22-12 in the second period, but it was Marshall that added to its lead as Connor Flaherty scored at 1:20 and Luke Pavlich scored short-handed at 12:49.

Superior finally got on the scoreboard on Tyler Nystrom’s power-play goal 48 seconds into the third period. Aaron Miller assisted on Nystrom’s team-leading 14th goal of the season.

Paxton Paine finished with 33 saves for Superior and Flaherty had 37 for Marshall.

Superior’s back in action at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Hermantown (10-2-2, 1-1). Marshall hosts St. Thomas Academy at 3 p.m. Saturday.

SPARTAN SPIN: The Spartans and Toppers have one common opponent this season with both teams losing to Green Bay Notre Dame in the Hilltopper Holiday Classic. Superior lost to the Tritons 3-0 and Marshall lost 6-3 in the championship game. The Spartans also opened the season with a 10-3 loss to GBND in the Eau Claire Memorial tournament. … Lopez and McKinzie lead Marshall in scoring with nine goals apiece.

Superior 0-0-1—1

Duluth Marshall 3-2-0—5

First Period: 1. DM, Jeremy Lopez 8 (Kris McKinzie), 5:52 (sh). 2. DM, McKinzie 9 (Jordan Fralich), 9:02. 3. DM, Lopez 9 (McKinzie, Kyle Jones), 16:49 (pp).

Second Period: 4. DM, Connor Flaherty 6 (Joe Daly), 1:20. 5. Luke Pavlich 7 (Nate Sepp), 12:49 (sh).

Third Period: 6. SHS, Tyler Nystrom 14 (Aaron Miller 20), 0:48 (pp).

Saves: Paxton Paine, SHS 13-10-10—33. Caden Flaherty, DM 8-22-15—0.

Tags: sports, preps, superior, spartans, hockey, updates