Alaska wins road sweep

FRESNO, Calif. — Three games, three wins and one common theme — special teams.

After scoring a combined eight special teams goals during the first two games, Alaska killed nine Fresno power plays during a 3-2 win over the Monsters at the Selland Arena in Fresno, Calif., Saturday night.

Alaska scored four times on the power play and added a shorthanded goal during a 7-5 win on Thursday. On Friday, the Avs collected a trio of shorthanded tallies. Saturday, Alaska killed nine of Fresno’s 10 power play chances to sweep a three-game series in which the teams combined for 94 penalties worth 387 total minutes.

“If you’re going to be playing in a game with that amount of penalties called — I’m not saying they were right or wrong, but they were called — special teams are going to play a key role,” Alaska head coach Brian Huebel said by cell phone from Fresno after the game. “The team that’s going to succeed is the team that does the most on special teams. Fortunately, we were able to do that. We were able to keep that trend going tonight.”

Matt Friese scored a pair of goals for Alaska, veteran defenseman Jake Williams netted the game-winner and rookie goalie Blake Mendenhall stopped 35 Fresno shots to help the Avs create some space at the top of the North American Hockey League West Division standings. Alaska improved to 17-11-0 with the win, and with 32 points, the Avs continue to sit by themselves in first place.

“It’s big. It was a nice weekend,” Huebel said. “Overall, I’m happy to be able to come down here and get three wins. Fresno’s a good hockey team. They’ll be a team to be reckoned with.”

Alaska killed nine power plays, and a big reason for that was the play of Mendenhall, Huebel said.

“He played really, really well, made some big saves for us,” Huebel said of Mendenhall.

Williams snapped a 2-2 tie late in the third period when he picked up an errant pass and tucked the puck into the corner of the Fresno net.

“Jake made a great play,” Huebel said. “We missed the pass to the slot guy, but Jake was in great position.”

Friese, who now has eight points (5 goals, 3 assists) in three games since rejoining the Avs on Wednesday, scored Alaska’s first two goals of the game.

The 2010 Wasilla High graduate gave the Avs the 1-0 lead, scoring with 3:31 left in the first. He put Alaska up 2-1 with a goal midway through the third.

“Great moves on the goaltender on both of them,” Huebel said of the Friese goals.

Defenseman Dan Senkbeil recorded an assist on both of the Friese goals. Like Friese, Senkbeil was acquired in a trade with Chicago of the United States Hockey League.

Friese also helped set up the Williams goal.

On Friday, Alaska netted three shorthanded goals and Jake Barber scored twice to help the Avs grab the 4-1 win. Anchorage natives Zach Smith and Grant Dye also scored shorthanded for Alaska.

Landon Peterson stopped 27 shots to earn the win in net.

Alaska, winners of eight of its last 11 games, will stay on the road. The Avs head north to Wenatchee, Wash., for a two-game series with the Wild.

The set starts Friday at 6:05 p.m. AST.

Alaska 3, Fresno 2

Saturday, Fresno, Calif.

First period — 1. Alaska- Friese (Senkbeil) 3:31.

Second period — 2. Fresno- Bjorklund (Indelicato, Johnson) 10:46.

Third period — 3. Alaska- Friese (Huppert, Senkbeil) 7:26; 4. Fresno- Lovick (Pauluk, Tritsch) 8:27; 5. Alaska- Williams (Darge, Friese) 5:40.

Shots on goal: Alaska 10-9-18—37, Fresno 12-17-8—37; Saves: Alaska- Mendenhall 12-16-7—35, Fresno- Puig 9-9-16—34; Power plays: Alaska 0-for-5, Fresno 1-for-10.

Alaska 4, Fresno 1

Friday, Fresno, Calif.

First period — 1. no scoring.

Second period — 2. Fresno- Lovick (Siemer, Pauluk) 1:20; 3. Alaska- Smith (Friese, Williams) sh 16:21.

Third period — 4. Alaska- Barber (Pearson, Briola) sh 0:23; 5. Alaska- Dye (Whitehill) sh 1:05; 6. Alaska- Barber (unassisted) en 19:41.

Shots on goal: Alaska 10-11-8—29, Fresno 7-11-10—28; Saves: Alaska- Peterson 7-10-10—27, Fresno- Conlin 10-10-5—25; Power plays: Alaska 0-for-4, Fresno 0-for-3; Penalties: Alaska 6-for-18, Frenso 8-for-30.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.