Indians continue to roll with weekend sweep

One night after knocking off the Toledo IceDiggers 9-2 at the Chi Mukwa Community Recreation Center, the Michigan Soo Indians knew that they would likely see a different team than the one they knocked off just 24 hours earlier.

What they got was a more spirited effort from the IceDiggers and a tougher battle than the previous night.

Logan Bittle, who was named the game's first star, opened the scoring with a power play marker, the Indians fifth power play goal of the weekend series, late in the opening period. The goal came after the puck deflected to Bittle off a point shot from Tiger Marcotte.

In the second period, Bittle gave the Indians a 2-0 lead when he potted his second of the night 40 seconds into the period moments after a Toledo penalty expired. Andrew Broughton gave the Indians a three-goal cushion at 11:57 of the second period when he scored his sixth goal of the season.

Toledo went into the second intermission on a high note though as Michel Pesek deflected a Mitch Sabo point shot home with 4.6 seconds left in the period.

Toledo pulled to within a goal at 8:42 of the third period when Joe Watson scored his fifth goal of the season. It was a case of too little, too late for Toledo though as Stavros Paskaris scored into an empty net with 25 second left in the game to seal the 4-2 win.

The win helps the Indians improve their record to 18-1-5, which is good for top spot in the North American Hockey League's North Division.

On Friday night, the Indians got a goal and three assist each from Jason Blain and Bittle, while Paskaris chipped in with two goals and three assists to pace the Indians to the 9-2 win.

Drew Styma scored twice while R.G. Flath, Veli-Antti Leinonen and Nick Biondo all scored power play goals for the Indians. Mark Lutz chipped in three assists for the winners.

Jim Kozlowski picked up two assists, while Joe Watson and Lukas Delorenzo scored for Toledo in Friday's loss.

On Saturday, the goaltending was quite strong as Jarrett Michaels of the Indians and Jason Kearney of Toledo both showed flashes of brilliance. Kearney was named the game's second star stopping 44 shots in the loss. Michaels stopped 22 shots in the win.

Saturday's win was the fourth win for the Indians against Toledo in five games. The other game ended with Toledo winning in overtime back on October 11th in Toledo.

Indians coach Joe Shawhan was pleased for the most part with the weekend.

"Toledo played really well," Shawhan said after Saturday night's game. "They played a lot grittier tonight. We couldn't put them away. They stayed enthusiastic. (Indians goaltender Jarrett) Michaels played well."

Shawhan also said that despite the final score of Friday's game, it was tight up until the third period when the Indians opened up and took over.

Shawhan went on to say that he was impressed with Kearney in the Toledo goal as well as his own goaltender. He added that his goaltending situation is a good one as, along with Michaels, the Indians also boast two other solid netminders in Adam Dekker and Derek MacIntyre.

"I did think about starting Adam, but I though Michaels deserved a start tonight. (Having three goaltenders) keeps the competition going. It makes them make the most of their opportunities. You can't bypass one because the others have played well. It's a positive thing."

The Indians now prepare to take on Dayton next weekend as they conclude their six game homestand with a weekend series against the Gems at the Chi Mukwa (Big Bear) Arena.