Sports : AVS RUN WILD - Frontiersman

AVS RUN WILD

BY JEREMIAH BARTZ
Frontiersman
Published on Saturday, November 21, 2009 10:33 PM AKST

WASILLA — Kale Robertson’s teammates call him Ron Hextall.

And on Friday, Robertson showed he has more in common with Hextall than just Manitoba roots.

The Alaska goaltender came off the bench to stop 24 shots and made three consecutive Hextall-like game-saving stops during the final minute of regulation to lead the Avalanche to a 3-2 overtime win over the Wenatchee Wild at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

(Use arrows above to view more photos)

“We make a joke in practice that he’s like Ron Hextall,” Alaska defenseman Jake Parenteau said, comparing Hextall — a Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, native and former Philadelphia Flyers standout — to Robertson, the 18-year-old netminder who hails from Sanford, Manitoba. “And he showed it out there. He definitely kept us in the game.”

Parenteau fired a shot into the upper shelf of the Wenatchee net with 40 seconds left in overtime to give Alaska the win, its second over the Wild in three meetings this season.

But it was Robertson who saved the day for the Avs when he made a trio of ridiculous stops late in the game, and a jaw-dropping glove save of a Nathan Sliwinski offering.

As the North American Hockey League rivals skated into the final minute of regulation, Wenatchee quickly moved the puck up the ice with an odd-man rush.

Wenatchee forward Jeff Jubinville put a hard shot on net, and Robertson made the save.

Defenseman Kyle Brodie swept up the rebound and fired a shot on the right side of the net.

Robertson made the save again, but the puck deflected out in front of the net to give the Wild another chance on the rebound.

Sliwinski skated in and took a whack at the loose puck and set a quick shot to the left side of the net. Robertson appeared to be out of position, but the 5-foot-11 goalie used all of his reach to stretch, turn and snag the puck with his glove hand.

“That was top-10 ESPN SportsCenter for sure,” Parenteau said. “Kale’s an unreal goalie.”

Robertson stopped each of the 22 shots he saw during regulation and two more in overtime to earn his ninth win of the season and lower his league-leading goals against average to 1.86.

Robertson came in at the start of the second period to help the Avs recover from an early 2-0 deficit.

Landon Peterson, who typically is Alaska’s Friday night goaltender, earned the start, but let two of Wenatchee’s 13 first-period shots slip into the net.

Alaska head coach Dave Boitz said Peterson was ill before he even took the ice, and sickness prevented him from finishing his start.

“He’s sick, and I think he tried to play through it,” Boitz said of Peterson, who stands at fifth in the league in saves percentage and seventh in goals against average.

While Robertson kept Wenatchee off the scoreboard for the final 45 minutes of play, Alaska scored in the second, third and overtime periods to grab the gritty win.

“We’ve got a gutsy bunch of guys,” Boitz said. “They don’t get down, they find a way to win.”

Kyle Pichler cut to the right side of the goal to deflect a Jake Williams pass into the Wenatchee net midway through the second period to cut the Wild lead in half. Logan Rounds blasted a lose puck into the net from just north of the right circle midway through the third to tie the score at 2.

Parenteau took advantage of a late power-play opportunity to give Alaska the win. As the Avs skated with the man-advantage, Williams sent a quick pass to Parenteau, who took the puck, skated forward between the circles and put a quick wrist shot into the top of the net.

“We were moving it really good up top, I got a great pass right in the slot and took it top cheese,” Parenteau said.

Duncan McKellar and Chris Rumble scored for the Wild during the first period.

McKellar slipped a puck past Peterson at the 9:11 mark.

Rumble scored on the power play to give the Wild the two-goal advantage.

After an Alaska forward was tripped up in the right corner near the Avalanche net, the man advantage turned into a quick 5-on-3 for the Wild. Tyler Mort skated down the left side of the ice, and got the puck to Rumble, who scored.

“They’re tough, when you make mistakes against them, they capitalize,” Boitz said.

The win marked Alaska’s second in three chances against the Wild this season. Alaska managed just one victory over the Wild in 14 regular-season meetings last season.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Alaska 3, Wenatchee 2 OT

Friday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Wenatchee- McKellar (Deswardt, Rumble) 9:11, 2. Wenatchee- Rumble (Mort) pp 14:38.

Second period — 3. Alaska- Pichler (Williams, Rounds) 9:34.

Third period — 4. Alaska- Rounds (unassisted) 8:03.

Overtime — 5. Alaska- Parenteau (Pichler, Williams) pp 4:20.

Shots on goal: Wenatchee 13-13-9-2—37, Alaska 10-8-12-6—36; Saves: Wenatchee- Jaeger 10-7-11-5—33, Alaska- Peterson 11-x-x-x—11, Robertson x-13-9-2—24; Power plays: Wenatchee 1-for-6, Alaska 1-for-6.

 

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