PETOSKEY – Alpena’s five-game shutout streak may have ended on Saturday, but the Wildcats were still feeling good after a 4-2 win over Big North Conference rival Petoskey.

Alpena’s shutout streak ended early in the first period when the Northmen put a puck past Wildcat goaltender Cooper Black on a shot he had little chance to make a save as Petoskey executed a perfect pass leading to the games first goal to put the Wildcats in a position they hadn’t been in all season, playing from behind.

Alpena didn’t panic and kept its composure as the Wildcats scored a pair of goals in the final minute of the first period, the first was a power play goal from Alex Cosbitt and the second coming off the stick of Colby Plowman to give Alpena a 2-1 edge after one period.

“It was a very hard-fought victory for us. Coming from behind and facing a little adversity was good and something we needed,” Alpena coach Chris Limback said. “We knee getting a goal scored on us was going to happen eventually and I was happy with how we stepped up and pick up the pace after that.”

Alpena extended the lead to 3-1 when Plowman got loose on a breakaway and lit the lap late in the second period to help the Wildcats take a two goal lead into the third period.

Just over five minutes into the third, Petoskey scored and cut the lead to one, but it was as close as the Northmen got the rest of the contest and the Wildcats put the icing on a sixth consecutive victory when Cosbitt sent a perfect pass to Plowman who scored an empty-net goal to record a hat trick and secure another victory for the Wildcats.

“Our special teams continues to play well and we gained the momentum late in that first period,” Limback said. ” We’re 6-0 right now and that’s a great start. We had a great November and hopefully we’ll be able to keep it rolling into December. We are going to continue being tested by other very good teams and we are just going to try to keep getting better each day.”

Alpena improves to 6-0 overall period on the season and is off to a 2-0 start in BNC play.

The Wildcats will welcome a tough challenge when they host a ranked Macomb Dakota team on Friday.