By CHRIS DOBROWOLSKI
News Sports Editor
This season it seems that if the Alpena IceDiggers didn't have bad breaks they wouldn't have any breaks at all.
Despite playing with, and at times outplaying, North Division-leading Traverse City on Friday night, Alpena couldn't keep the North Stars from making the plays it needed down the stretch to post a 3-2 victory over Alpena at Northern Lights Arena.
Alpena battled back from a 2-0 deficit with a pair of 5-on-3 goals in the first and second periods. But it all went for naught when Andy Huff ripped a slapshot over Marco Wieser's left shoulder with two and a half minutes remaining to put the North Stars ahead by a goal. The game-winner came seconds after Alpena had killed off a penalty.
The IceDiggers still had a great opportunity when they went on a power play with 1:27 to go after Bo Jacobs was called for tripping, but that advantage was nullified when Kyle Hughes went to the box for interference with 40 seconds to go.
"Penalties. We're taking stupid penalties," said Alpena coach Jack Fritsche. "Right before the third goal we wind up in the box and give them momentum. We got caught in a 3-on-2 and it was good execution on their part. We gave them momentum with our stupid penalties. The lazy hooking penalties have got to stop. You can't take hooking penalties in the offensive zone. It's the worst penalty in hockey."
It was Alpena's eighth one-goal loss this year.
"It's frustrating losing these one-goal hockey games," said Fritsche. "We're in the game, in the game, in the game, then we lose it. We executed well early, but we didn't execute at the end of the game."
Alpena (5-13) was taking advantage of Traverse City's generosity in the early going as two, two-man advantages allowed the IceDiggers to bury good offensive opportunities.
Joel Benson had the first Alpena goal late in the first period, with an assist to Ryan Timar, and Nick Taurence tallied a score in the first minute of the second period on a redirected shot, with assists to Jonas Vassalli and Timar, to tie the score.
But that proved to be the last time Alpena would get a shot past Traverse City's Drew Strandberg.
Nilan Nagy and Dan Radke had the North Stars' first two goals, with both of those coming in a span of 1:06 midway through the first period. Josh Miller, Eric McLintock, Huff and Travis White assisted those goals to get Traverse City (11-4-1) off to the good start.
Traverse City used the victory to maintain a three-point lead for first in the North. At the other end of the standings is the IceDiggers, which saw a chance to gain ground fall by the wayside.
"We've got a good hockey team," said Fritsche. "It's the little details that are beating us right now. The stupid errors are killing us. If we don't learn from them we're not going to get better."
The two teams square off tonight at 7 p.m. in Traverse City.
