Although the Illinois hockey team came out sluggish in the first period of both games this weekend against Southern Illinois (Edwardsville), the final scores certainly didn’t show it.

The Illini were victorious in both games, winning by 7-4 and 6-3 margins on Friday and Saturday, respectively. In both affairs, Illinois (19-8-2) fell behind 2-1 before burying SIUE with an offensive explosion.

“We didn’t really do anything poorly in the first, but we didn’t really do anything well,” head coach Nick Fabbrini said after Saturday’s game. “It comes back to us coming ready to go off the bat, and I’m not sure that was the case this weekend.”

Line partners John Olen and Scott Barrera had a big weekend. Olen accounted for six points, with two goals and four assists, while Barrera recorded seven points with three goals and four assists.

An Olen-to-Barrera goal would kick off the scoring in the first period of Friday’s game, but the Cougars would respond. With just over a minute to go in the first, SIUE got the equalizer, and then took the lead only 13 seconds into the second period.

After the initial goal, however, the second period belonged to Illinois. The Illini scored four times in the period, including defenseman Anthony Carlsen’s first career goal.

“It certainly took long enough,” Carlsen said. “I was playing more offensively and looking to take my chances. There were a lot of openings.”

Both teams tacked on two goals in the third to reach the 7-4 final, although Fabbrini said the team got “goal hungry” in the third period, leading to scoring chances for the Cougars.

In the finale, sporting pink jerseys for breast cancer awareness, the Illini again jumped out in front, with Nick Stuercke scoring off of a wraparound move by Austin Bostock only 19 seconds into the game.

With fans still celebrating the early Illini score, the Cougars came right back and knocked in a game-tying goal only 20 seconds later. SIUE then took the lead on a long-range slap shot and led 2-1 at the end of the first.

For the second night in a row, the second period was a savior for Illinois. Tallying three goals in the frame, the Illini retook control of the game. Barrera and Olen were at it again, when Barrera slipped the puck between a defender’s legs and dished it off to Olen, who flicked home the goal — the second Barrera-to-Olen connection in the period.

“Me, Barrera and (Kevin Chowaniec) all had good weekends,” Olen said. “I think it’s huge when we’re rolling as a line, it picks everyone up to try and get to our level.”

The Illini tallied their third of the period when the Cougars made an egregious error on their power play. After Illinois cleared the puck from its defensive zone, Bostock raced down the ice to chase after it. The SIUE goaltender came out of the crease and flipped the puck behind the net, but Bostock beat the goaltender back to the net and slipped in the short-handed goal to extend the lead to 4-2.

The Cougars wouldn’t get within two goals for the rest of the game, as the Illini won 6-3.

“It says a lot about us again to be able to come back and respond from a subpar period and to put out two good ones,” Fabbrini said. “But in a couple of weeks, we can’t expect to come out with two bad periods and expect to come away with two wins against (No. 4) Robert Morris.”

Stephen can be reached at [email protected] and @steve_bourbon.