BEMIDJI – Eric Pohlkamp said he pulled some strings to get his dad a birthday shoutout on the Sanford Center video board. But his game-winning goal to cap a miraculous comeback was a much better gift.

The Bemidji State men’s hockey freshman had plenty of family in attendance on Friday night at the Sanford Center. It was a 60th birthday celebration for his dad, Joe Pohlkamp. During the first period, they cut the cake to ignore that the Beavers were losing to Michigan Tech 2-0. That margin grew to 4-0 late in the second period before Bemidji State woke up.

Tied 4-4 late in the third, Pohlkamp flicked a hard wrister through traffic past Huskies’ goalie Blake Pietila. It solidified a memorable night for the Pohlkamp family and the rest of the Beaver faithful.

“My sister flew in from San Jose to surprise my dad,” Pohlkamp said. “They all got a big booth (at the Sanford Center), and my billet family from Cedar Rapids came also. It’s really nice to get that big goal with them all here.

“Growing up, you want to play all three sports – football, baseball, hockey. (My dad) never really pushed me. He only yelled at me one time. It was after a peewee game. He made me do a couple of killers back and forth. But that was the only time he said something, and he said if I want a hockey career, (I) have to do it myself. He gave me every resource possible.”

Bemidji State earned a 6-4 win over Michigan Tech the hard way. The Beavers spotted the Huskies four goals in the first 34 minutes before Alexander Lundman got one back in the second period with under five minutes left. Lundman then dished a give-and-go pass to Kyle Looft, who scored less than two minutes later to make it 4-2.

Lundman has been in and out of the lineup all season but took advantage of the shifts he got, which left an impression on head coach Tom Serratore.

“I’m so proud of Lundy,” Serratore said. “He’s been out of the lineup a lot. And he got back in the lineup because of an injury, and he doesn’t want to get back out. He was a big puzzle piece tonight.”

The Beavers took a penalty shortly after Looft’s goal, but Jackson Jutting evened the ice by drawing a boarding penalty behind the BSU net. After Bemidji State reached full strength, Jutting scored through Pietila’s five-hole with 28.8 seconds left before the intermission.

“Jutts is the guy that’s the rock,” Serratore said. “I trust him probably more than any other player on our team. He’s going to give an honest effort and an honest game of every second in every minute of every period. (Whether) it’s winning a faceoff, getting a puck in (deep), it’s like there’s a microphone in his head from the coaches telling him to do this or do that. He makes a lot of decisions, and he’s all about the team.”

Bemidji State tied the game early in the third period. Pohlkamp threw a puck toward the goal that was blocked by an MTU defenseman before it found Kasper Magnussen’s stick for his first career goal. Magnussen, a freshman, was elevated from the fourth line to the first line after Friday night’s 4-2 loss, one in which Serratore was impressed by his depth forwards.

More importantly, Magnussen’s goal firmly put the Beavers in the driver’s seat to complete the comeback.

“When you’re down that many, you’re just trying to chip away and get as many as you can,” Jutting said. “We were generating a ton of scoring chances, and they started going in. We had some spurts last night where they should’ve found the back of the net. We didn’t, but tonight they were going in.”

Jutting drew an interference penalty from Michigan Tech’s Trevor Russell with 5:21 left in the third period, which set the stage for Pohlkamp’s game-winning wrister on the power play.

“Throughout the whole game, I was in the play, but nothing really happened,” Pohlkamp said. “Our power play (unit) is really struggling, and Loofty’s group is really good right now. … Me and (Lleyton Roed) made a little switch,

and again

, I got a really good screen.”

Looft started the party early with a 150-foot empty-netter with 1:50 left in regulation. He now has a career-high with 12 points in a single season on five goals and seven assists.

Bemidji moved to 4-6-0 on the season and 3-3-0 in CCHA play. The Beavers are second in the conference in points with 10, trailing only St. Thomas (12), a team they swept two weekends ago.

“Sports is weird,” Serratore said. “Sports is weird, and college hockey is crazy. Sometimes, you just can’t script things. College sports is crazy. I don’t care if it’s hockey, basketball, football or whatever. Sometimes, you just have to expect the unexpected.

“How can you not try to build on something after we did this tonight? That’s a testament to the guys. … It was a darn good win and an interesting win. It was a fun game, and it was fun for our fans, too. I was just really pumped at the end. They gave our guys a standing ovation. And hey, the fans got their money’s worth tonight. … They didn’t leave the building, and then we gave them six straight. Great night for the Beavs and a great night for Bemidji.”

Bemidji State 6, Michigan Tech 4

MTU 2 2 0 – 4

BSU 0 3 3 – 6

First period – MTU GOAL: Gordon (Koskipirtti, C. Pietila) 0:57; MTU GOAL: Works (Caderoth) 9:22.

Second period – MTU GOAL: Mosley (L. Pietila) PP, 6:22; MTU GOAL: Pederson (Gordon, Vaharautio) 13:38; BSU GOAL: Lundman (Jones, Jutting) PP, 15:33; BSU GOAL: Looft (Lundman, Jones) 17:03; BSU GOAL: Jutting (Martin, Looft) PP, 19:32.

Third period – BSU GOAL: Magnussen (Pohlkamp, Martin) 1:16; BSU GOAL: Pohlkamp (Roed, Corcoran) PP, 16:08; BSU GOAL: Looft (unassisted) EN, 18:10.

Saves – Enright (BSU) 15; B. Pietila (MTU) 26.