When Andover senior defenseman and captain Wyatt Kaiser returned from a fall stint with the USHL's Dubuque Fighting Saints, he brought some of his own ideas with him. Particularly, he had his own version of strategy for the Huskies' power play.

"For four years we've run a Charlie Schoen down on the goal line (power play), and Wyatt said 'I've got a power play to run,' and we said 'Ok,'" Andover head coach Mark Manney said on Tuesday night, adding that the Huskies devoted roughly 20 minutes of practice to learning Kaiser's preferred system.  

"I came back from Dubuque, ran their power play for a little while, and I really liked how that ran," Kaiser said. "I just tried to implement it a little in our power play, and it seemed to work out for us."

Kaiser's method hummed to the tune of three Andover goals on three chances with the man-advantage, powering the Huskies (1-0) to a 6-3 road win over Blake.

Two of those power play goals came in the first period, during which the Huskies, ranked No. 3 in the Youth Hockey Hub Class 2A preseason poll, stumbled out to a 3-0 lead. 

"I thought we were awful in the first," Manney said matter-of-factly. "We had some lucky bounces, really."

The luck nearly ran out in the second, as No. 8-2A Blake scored in the first minute before adding two more goals to tie the game at 3-3 entering the third. Ben Dexheimer, Brett Witzke, and Anderson Blum were the goal-scorers for the Bears (0-1).

"As much as we have a lot of experience on the top two lines and the top four defensemen, none of those guys have really been 'the man' before," Manney said. "They're not really sure who is 'the man.'

Kaiser is supposed to be 'the man' for Andover this season, with the Minnesota-Duluth commit coming off a junior year in which he scored 10 goals and added 22 assists and was named this fall as a second-round caliber NHL Entry Draft prospect by NHL Central Scouting. 

"We challenged him after the second (to) just take the game over," Manney said. 

The challenge came with the caveat that Kaiser would line up at center to start the third, a move that delighted Kaiser and befuddled Bears' center and Minnesota verbal commit Joe Miller, causing Miller to gesture toward his bench for instructions on how to play out the scenario. 

"He's a lifelong friend," Kaiser said of Miller. "I just laughed at him."

Manney's gamble must have worked in some regard, as the Huskies tacked on three goals in the third to pull away for the win. Kaiser finished with two goals, while Hunter Jones recorded a goal and three assists for a game-high four total points. Gunnar Thoreson also scored twice and dished out an assist as well for the Huskies. 

Not to be lost in a six-goal outburst, Andover's Will Larson stopped 20 of 23 shots, no small feat considering this was Larson's first game action in over a year due to hip surgeries. Larson blanked the Bears when it mattered most and refused to let a decent-sized contingent of Blake students to rattle him with remarks. 

"I'll give it right back," Larson said without hesitation. 

"Give it to the bench, give it to the crowd. You guys can talk, but I can talk, too."