The Oakland University hockey team bounced back from two consecutive losses earlier in the week with a 4-2 victory against Davenport Jan. 12 to tie the “Good Luck Duck” series at two games apiece.

The Golden Grizzlies, ranked 12 in the ACHA, suffered two losses against Adrian, including a 6-0 loss Jan. 11 and a 6-3 loss Jan. 10, before returning to the Onyx Arena to defeat the Panthers.

Although Davenport, ranked seventh in the ACHA, outshot OU, the Grizzlies benefited from a strong third period and consistency from their goalie, sophomore Corey Hrischuk.

“It was a long fought battle for our guys this week with three games in a row. It was tough,” said head coach Jeremy Bachusz. “The bounces weren’t really going our way, but our guys were able to stick with it and get a couple of key goals early in the game that gave us some energy and momentum going into the last period and we were able to finish it off.”

After a closely matched first period, Davenport forward Matt Ogden took advantage of an OU penalty to score the first goal of the night early in the second period.

“We were all irritated on the bench with the way we started the game. Seeing that (first) goal go in made everybody mad,” Bachusz said. “It’s exciting when a team’s able to respond positively when a goal is scored against you and our team was able to do that.”

OU forward Adam Novack scored late in the second period, tying the game.

The Grizzlies scored early and often in the final period.

Hrishcuk credits the success of the third period with improved defense.

“A lot of shots were from the boards or away from the slot. We did a better job handling that in the third period. Our defense had a lot of sticks on the puck,” he said.

OU secured a victory with goals from forward David Merkle and a second from Novack. The final goal was contributed by defender Ian Jacobs, who scored an empty net goal during a Davenport power play with 52.4 seconds remaining to secure a two-point lead.

“We were short-handed there. They pulled their goalie. I was skating back, looking to ice it (the puck) and everyone started cheering. I looked up and the puck was going right into the net,” Jacobs said.

OU will host Eastern Michigan Jan. 17, and the Grizzlies and the Panthers will meet again for the final game of the “Good Luck Duck” series Feb. 23.