MARQUETTE, Mich. — Dominik Shine's second hat trick of the season propelled the Northern Michigan hockey team to a 6-1 victory over Alaska-Anchorage Friday night at the Berry Events Center.

Robbie Payne, Philip Beaulieu and Connor Frantti also chipped in goals to lift the Wildcats past the Seawolves in their most commanding win of the 2016-17 campaign.

Northern Michigan dominated the first period, netting three unanswered goals and outshooting Alaska-Anchorage by a 17-4 margin.

Just 2:49 into the game, Payne opened the scoring. After a Jordan Klimek point shot kicked out to Darien Craighead in the slot, Craighead alertly shuffled the puck over to Payne at the right edge of the crease for the tap-in goal.

Two seconds after the Wildcats' first power play expired, at the 7:53 mark, Beaulieu's low point shot made it through traffic and found the back of the net.

Shine and Gerard Hanson teamed to make it a three-goal game at 16:25. Shine forced a turnover in the neutral zone and sent the puck ahead to Hanson, who skated in on net. While sandwiched between two Seawolves, Hanson dropped a pass back to Shine, who beat Olivier Mantha high blocker side.

The second period was marked by end-to-end action, with both teams trading quality chances. At 4:11, Jeremiah Luedtke took a drop pass from Dylan Hubbs on a 2-on-2 rush and popped the bottle to narrow the gap to two goals.

Atte Tolvanen, who finished the game with 25 saves, made two of his biggest with around eight minutes left in the frame. First, he denied Tad Kozun from point-blank range with his right pad; then, he snared an Alex Jackstadt bid in the resulting goalmouth scramble.

Seconds after Tolvanen stuffed Jackstadt on a shorthanded breakaway, Shine regained Northern Michigan's three-goal advantage, early into its five-minute man advantage. Shine threaded a shot past Rasmus Reijola, who relieved Mantha at the start of the second period, and into the upper right corner of the net at 18:45.

In the third period, the teams combined to take 14 penalties and skated 4-on-4 three times. Frantti netted his first career goal at the 10:56 mark, carrying the puck from the Wildcats' blueline into the Seawolves' end. After carving his way through the Alaska-Anchorage defense, he sent a shot on net that trickled through Reijola's five hole and into the back of the net.

Shine capped the game's scoring, and completed his hat trick, at 18:34, taking a feed from Beaulieu and beating a heavily screened Reijola with a wrist shot.

The Wildcats and Seawolves wrap up their series tomorrow at 7:07 p.m. The opening face-off is set for 7:07 p.m.

NOTES: Northern Michigan leads the all-time series, 19-12-1 ... Shine now has 15 goals, matching his career high, set during the 2015-16 campaign, with nine games left in the regular season ... This was Shine's third multi-goal effort of this season; he netted two at Wisconsin on Nov. 4 and had a hat trick against Lake Superior State on Jan. 7 ... Payne's goal was his sixth of the season but first since Dec. 3 at Alaska-Anchorage ... Beaulieu's goal was his third of the season, tying him with Brock Maschmeyer for first among Wildcat defensemen ... Beaulieu, who also notched two assists, set a new career high with three points ... With three helpers, Hanson matched his career high in both assists (last vs. Lake Superior State on Oct. 16, 2015) and points (last vs. Wisconsin on Oct. 7, 2016) ... With two assists, Klimek tied his career high in both helpers (last vs. Bowling Green on Dec. 5, 2014) and points (last at Wisconsin on Oct. 10, 2015) ... Northern Michigan's five-goal margin of victory was its largest of the season; the Wildcats had won by a three-goal margin on Nov. 4 at Wisconsin (5-2) and on Dec. 3 at Alaska-Anchorage (4-1) ... This was Northern Michigan's third six-goal outing of the season; they also netted six on Oct. 21 at Ferris State (6-4) and on Jan. 7 against Lake Superior State (6-4).