ANCHORAGE — After traveling nearly 3,000 miles to Alaska for a weekend tournament, the Michigan hockey team’s hopes of a successful weekend were in trouble. The Wolverines had been shut out Friday by a familiar CCHA foe, Alaska-Fairbanks, in their season opener.

So what did they do? Michigan took matters into its own hands, got aggressive and dominated Saturday against Alaska-Anchorage — something the Wolverines just couldn’t do Friday.

“We weren’t really paying the price to score,” Michigan coach Red Berenson said of Friday’s loss.

The Wolverines certainly cashed in on Saturday.

Michigan scored two goals by being active. Senior forward Brian Lebler deflected the puck into the net off a shot from senior captain Chris Summers, and freshman forward Chris Brown knocked in his first goal as a Wolverine off of a cross-ice shot from junior defenseman Tristin Llewellyn.

Unlike Friday, Michigan made it a point to screen shots in the second game. The team was making things happen around the crease.

“When we didn’t have the puck, I thought we were moving,” junior forward Matt Rust said of the offense Saturday. “Watching video after (Friday’s) loss, you could tell when we passed the puck, we weren’t moving after. We weren’t getting open. We weren’t making it easy to get the puck back.”

Five different Wolverines scored Saturday, and Michigan was 2-of-3 on the power play after going 0-of-2 against the Nanooks.

The vast amount of players who pose a threat of scoring for the Wolverines’ this year could prove to be their biggest strength. Michigan had six players score goals in the double digits last season.

“Guys were doing their responsibilities and doing what they were supposed to do,” Summers said. “I think that makes a huge difference, when you got a guy on any given line that can go out every shift and give it their all and get back off the ice and wait for their turn again.”

Berenson said that the team certainly played with more intensity Saturday night. The team was matching Alaska-Anchorage hit for hit. A lackluster performance Friday had the Wolverines reeling, but a few adjustments later, Michigan matched the aggressiveness of Alaska-Anchorage and generated an offensive spark.

Everyone was relieved to salvage the weekend.

“We made a long trip up here,” Berenson said. “And to come up and play like we played (Friday) was embarrassing for our team. And they knew that. And I knew that. And it was easy for me to remind them and to remind them of how we have to play to be a good team.”