Alaska buries Bears with third-period flurry

KENAI — All season long, Kenai River Brown Bears coach Oliver David has preached to his team the importance of closing out, and winning, close games.

His message will remain the same for at least one more day.

The Brown Bears allowed five goals in the third period and squandered a two-goal lead en route to a frustrating 6-3 loss against the Alaska Avalanche on Thursday night in front of 347 fans at the Soldotna Sports Center.

The loss snapped Kenai River’s franchise-best four-game winning streak and shrunk its lead from four points to two over the Avalanche for third place in the North American Hockey League’s West Division.

Kenai River (10-9-2) and Alaska (10-9-0) square off again at 7:30 p.m. tonight and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Both games are at the sports center.

The Brown Bears took a 3-1 lead into the third period and held the advantage until the 13-minute mark, in position to secure their fifth win in as many games.

Alaska pulled within 3-2 with 12:50 left on a Brandon Brossoit power-play goal, assisted by Jacob Barber.

Seconds after the score, Kenai River’s Chris Rial was called for tripping, putting the Brown Bears two men down. The Avalanche then converted before Kenai was back to full strength, with Brossoit finding the net again.

With the score tied, Jacob Barber converted two more power-play goals within a two-minute span to give Alaska a 5-3 cushion.

Jesse Ramsey, Sean Muller, Brad Duwe, Erik Persson and goalkeeper Mathias Dahlstrom of the Brown Bears were all called for penalties within the four-minute span in which Alaska scored the goals. The calls left fans frustrated, but David said it’s unfair to pin the blame on officials.

For Alaska, it was a much-needed win after dropping two games on its home ice against Kenai River last weekend.

“We just had to work hard for 20 more minutes,” Alaska head coach Brian Huebel said of the turnaround.