FAIRBANKS – The Nanooks hockey team won its third straight game on Friday, Feb. 27, in front of its home crowd in the Carlson Center. With the win, Alaska is now 13-15-2 on the season.
How it Happened
The two sides were nearly even in shots-on-goal in the first period, with UAA outshooting the Nanooks 10-8 in the opening 20 minutes, but it was the Blue and Gold who found the back of the net first. After Tommy Cronin found Dean Spak on the breakout, Spak dished the puck to a slashing Alexander Malinowski who beat UAA netminder Tyler Krivtsov for the 1-0 lead. The game-winner came 12:35 into the first period and was the lone goal in the first two periods.
In the second period, the offensive attack changed sides as the Nanooks threw 13 shots on goal while UAA managed just five. Both sides were scoreless in the second stanza and Alaska took their 1-0 lead into the third. In the final period, Alaska continued the offensive pressure, posting 19 shots-on-goal to Alaska Anchorage’s seven. The ‘Nooks finally put a second goal up on the scoreboard with 1:31 remaining in the game. Chase Dafoe scored on UAA’s empty net after Braden Birnie entered the zone with the puck and dished the puck to Dafoe for the goal. Jackson Anderson picked up the secondary assist on the final goal of the night.
The 2-0 win capped off a shutout performance for rookie netminder Calvin Vachon. Vachon was credited with a 22-save shutout and the second win of his career.
Inside the Numbers
Neither side capitalized on the power play tonight. Alaska was 6-6 on the penalty kill, keeping the UAA offense quiet. Alaska was held to an 0-2 night on the man-advantage.
Alaska’s defense was credited with 20 blocked shots tonight. That effort was the third 20-block performance by the Nanooks this season and matched the second-most blocked shots in a game this year. Their season-high is 23 and came in the Oct. 10, 2025 victory over Quinnipiac (2-1).
The shutout was the Nanooks’ second of the year and first since Nov. 28, 2025 against St. Lawrence (2-0) at the Adirondack Winter Invitational.
Six Nanooks finished with a point tonight. Alexander Malinowski now has 11 points in his last 12 games with his goal tonight.
With the empty-net goal, Chase Dafoe stretches his points streak to seven games and gives him nine points in that span.
Braden Birnie also extends his points streak to three games. He has five points over the last three games. Tommy Cronin earned another assist and point tonight, giving him seven assists and 11 points on the year. He has 11 points in his last nine games.
Calvin Vachon becomes the first Nanooks rookie goalie to post a shutout victory since Scott Greenham shut out Mercyhurst 5-0 on Oct. 17, 2008.
What’s to Come
The Nanooks and Seawolves play one more time tomorrow to cap off the 2025-26 Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup series and the 2025-26 regular season. These two will then travel to St. Louis, Mo. for the first-ever United Collegiate Hockey Cup March 5-7.
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