The Tommies were locked in a scoreless battle with the Michigan Tech Huskies early in the second period on Friday night at Anderson Arena when they managed to break through.

Tommies forward Ryan O’Neill forced a turnover deep in the Huskies’ zone  and slipped the puck to linemate Alexandros Gaffney in the slot.

Gaffney, the Tommies’ leading scorer, fired the puck past Michigan Tech goaltender Owen Bartoszkiewicz to give the Tommies the lead, then looked to the skies. His body language making it clear he was relieved to see the puck go into the net.

It was the first goal in five games for the graduate transfer from Harvard.

“I think it just all came to me; I wasn’t planning it,” said Gaffney, who added another goal in the Tommies’ 4-2 victory, their 11th straight. “I feel a little guilty doing that, but it just happened. I feel relieved that I scored.”

Tommies coach Rico Blasi said he knows Gaffney has been fighting it of late.

“He’s been ripping pucks every day,” Blasi said. “I think he went over to the outdoor rink earlier in the week just to work on it. In fact I know he did, so it was nice to see him get a couple goals tonight.”

Gaffney, who increased his goal total to 15 on the season, said braving the cold turned out to be just what he needed.

“Something felt a little off in my game the last couple weeks,” he said. “I couldn’t figure out why, and I felt that going back to the outdoor rink, grounding myself again … finding the pureness of the game.

“It just so happened a bunch of local kids (were there). We played four on four, and finding that joy and pureness helped my mind — and led to today.”

Gaffney joked about having a hat trick in that four-on-four game, and he came close to getting one on Friday night, too. He had a couple of good looks after picking up this second goal.

“It definitely was in my mind,” Gaffney said. “I’m in my fifth year and it’s something I haven’t achieved. But you can’t force it. Every shift you just play the same way.”

The win pushed the first-place Tommies eight points ahead of Michigan Tech in the CCHA standings. Augustana’s win on Friday night moved the Vikings into the second spot, seven  points  behind the Tommies.

Friday night, Michigan Tech tied the game at 1-1 midway through the second period. The Tommies got a big goal from Lucas Van Vliet in the final minute of the period to take a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.

Van Vliet poked there puck past a Michigan Tech defender inside the Tommies’ blue line to start a two-on-one break.

“When I got the two-on-one I looked pass the whole way,” Van Vliet said. “I looked at the goalie the last second and I saw him cheating glove. But I still went glove side, thinking he might be surprised by it.

“It was a well-placed shot.”

Offered Blasi: “When he picks his mark he knows where to go with it.”

Gaffney’s second goal of the game came 34 seconds into the third period. The Tommies padded the lead with a power-play goal by Jake Braccini midway through the period before the Huskies added a goal in the final minute.

The Tommies, who hosted Michigan Tech again on Saturday night, played very much like a team on a roll Friday.

“I think it’s just sticking to detail,” Van Vliet said. “Now that we’re a team in first place everyone’s after us. So we have to take our game to the next level. I think over these past few games we’ve been doing that.

“Teams are going to hunt us because we’re in first. We take that as fuel and use it against them. We’ve done a good job sticking to our plan.”

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