WASILLA — A trio of power-play goals and a fast first period set the tone Thursday for the Alaska Avalanche in the team’s first home game in nearly two months.

The 4-3 win over the Kenai River Brown Bears was just the ticket for an Avalanche squad that is looking to make a push in the North American Hockey League West Division standings. The Avs were in third place going into Thursday’s game behind second-place Fairbanks.

“It was good to be home,” said Alaska head coach Dave Boitz. “That was a long time to be out on the road, no question. ... Tonight was a pretty entertaining game. I thought both teams played pretty hard.”

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Although the road trip was long, the team maintained its focus, the coach said.

“We’ve been playing hockey the whole time, so our effort was good,” he said.

Defending their home ice for the first time since Dec. 9, the Avalanche came out aggressive in the first period, taking a 1-0 lead about midway though when Kyle Pichler split the pipes on a power play. And while the Avs dominated the period, outshooting the Brown Bears 15-8, Kenai managed to push the puck past Alaska goalie Kale Robertson with just under three minutes left in the period — also a power play — to tie the score at 1.

“The guys worked hard, for sure,” Boitz said of the physical play. “The intensity level was good. I thought it was real physical tonight. We need to add to that. We definitely need to pick up the physical play, the intensity, follow up on our checks.”

In a game that saw plenty of hard hits, it was Alaska’s ability to convert the power play that make Thursday’s win a sweet homecoming. The Avalanche converted three of six advantages, while Kenai managed just one score on seven power play opportunities.

“Our power play was pretty good tonight,” Boitz said. “It bailed us out for sure.”

In the second period, the only offense for either team came from Alaska’s Jake Parenteau, who recorded an unassisted power play goal with 5:50 left to give Alaska a 2-1 lead it would never relinquish.

But the Brown Bears made their division rivals work for the win in the last 10 minutes of the third period. After Jake Williams put Alaska up 3-1 on another power play score with 9:20 left in the game, Kenai finally found the net again with just four minutes to play when Jesse Ramsey found the back of the net.

The Avalanche would answer just 1:33 later when Blake Huppert scored what would become the game-winner, assisted by Zach Smith and Williams.

Doug Beck’s unassisted score with less than 1:30 to play brought the Brown Bears close, trailing 4-3, but the rally fell short.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.

Alaska 4, Kenai River 3

Thursday, Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena

First period — 1. Alaska-Pickler (Parenteau, Johnson) pp 11:31; 2. Kenai River-Lubranski (Skinnars) pp 17:18.

Second period — 3. Alaska-Parenteau (ua) pp 14:10.

Third period — 4. Alaska-Williams (Parenteau, Huppert) pp 9:20; 5. Kenai River-Ramsey (Skinnars, Duwe) 16:00; 6. Alaska-Huppert (Smith, Williams) 17:33; 7. Kenai River-Beck (ua) 18:31.

Shots on goal: Alaska 15-11-10—36, Kenai River 8-11-11—30; Saves: Alaska-Robertson 7-11-9—27, Kenai River-Vasiljevs 14-10-8—32; Power plays: Alaska 3-for-6, Kenai River 1-for-7; Penalties: Alaska 10-for-23, Kenai River 9-for-21.