HANCOCK — What should have taken three hockey periods only took two as the Houghton Gremlins shutout the Hancock Bulldogs in merciful fashion, 8-0, on Friday night at a packed Houghton County Arena. With the win, the Gremlins kept the Don Miller Wing Ding Trophy for the second year in a row.

It was quite a contrast to last year’s game where it took the Gremlins an overtime to get a 4-3 victory against their cross-town rivals.

“The boys wanted it tonight,” said Houghton coach Corey Markham. “The guys were amped up to play and came out and played extremely hard, and we were really good tonight.”

Both teams came out of the opening faceoff fast and furious trying to move the puck up the ice. However, just three minutes into the period, the Gremlins dominated the offensive play. They took advantage of a cross-checking penalty committed by Hancock’s Bryce Randell at the 7:02 mark. Only 24 seconds into the power play, Houghton’s P.J. Donnelly fired a slap shot from the far circle and it scooted past the pads of Hancock’s goaltender Philip Rios.

It was the first of four goals that the Gremlins scored while on the power play over the course of the game.

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