Avalanche of goals dooms Alaska

WASILLA — Alaska Avalanche head coach Jamie Smith had three words to describe his team’s performance Wednesday evening.

“Awful, awful, awful,” Smith said, moments after putting his team through a grueling postgame conditioning session at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

The Avalanche gave up six third period goals — including five straight to end the game — as the first-year Kenai River Brown Bears picked up the team’s first road win in franchise history.

“It's been a long time coming,” Kenai River head coach Mike Flanagan said following the game.

The Avalanche blew three different leads in the game.

Brown Bears goalie Matt Wichorek had 23 saves for the win, while Alaska's Nathan Corey had 37 saves for the Avs. Despite giving up seven goals, Corey was actually Alaska's best player on the night, making several key stops to keep things close in the opening two periods.

“Our goaltender played out of his mind,” Avalanche coach Jamie Smith said.

But the Avs were badly outshot on the night, something that came back to bite the team hard in the third period.

“Just a lack of focus, we didn’t do the simple things, we tried to do much and it caught us,” he said. “They capitalized on every mistake we made.”

Kasilof native and former Kenai Central skater Garrett Bossert had his best game as a junior hockey player, getting two goals and an assist for the Brown Bears.

Kenai River peppered Corey with 15 shots in the opening period, but it was the Avalanche who went to the locker room with the lead after a shorthanded goal by Tyler Currier.

With the Brown Bears wrapping up their second power play of the period, Alaska blueliner Kent Detlefsen cleared the zone to Currier near center ice. The speedy forward then outraced Kenai River defender Jesse Brown to the puck, broke in alone on goalie Matt Wichorek and went top shelf to give the Avs a 1-0 lead.

The Brown Bears tied the score with the only goal of the second period when Bryan Murphy drew three defenders behind the net, then deftly flipped the puck back to a trailing Tony McDonald, whose backhander just snuck under Corey's pads.

The Avalanche missed a golden opportunity later in the period when Kenai River was whistled for three quick penalties, resulting in two full minutes of 5-on-3 hockey for the Avs. But Wichorek made up for his own delay of game penalty by making several clutch saves to keep the game all square.

Neither team was particularly threatening offensively in the second, with much of the action taking place along the side boards and in the corners. The Brown Bears again outshot Alaska in the period, but Corey was up to the challenge, picking up 13 more saves — including an acrobatic, forward-diving glove stop that brought the crowd to its feet late in the frame.

The offensive doldrums of the second period were quickly forgotten with a flurry of goals to open the third.

Wasilla's Jeremiah Dargis got things started with a power play goal on the second shot of the period, but the lead was short-lived, as Bossert picked up the equalizer just three minutes later.

Alaska took the lead back when Eagle River's Michael McCurtain rattled a hard shot off the post and into the net, but Kenai River was again able to counter, this time with a Kevin Harris tap-in from the doorstep — the fourth score in the period's first nine minutes.

Kenai River took the lead for good with 8:06 left when Kevin Wentland hit a streaking Nick Calma in front of Corey, who was unable to get back across the goal in time to stop the Kenai River forward's slap shot.

The Brown Bears picked up an insurance goal less than three minutes later when Jeffrey Harris got loose in front of Corey and went top shelf to make the score 5-3. Bossert and McDonald then each added a goal apiece as the Brown Bears piled on the scores to finish the game.

Alaska had beaten Kenai River in five of seven previous match-ups, although all five of the team's losses were close games. Flanagan said that for his team to finally break through for a big win against the Avalanche proved the Brown Bears are ready to shed the “expansion” team label.

“We want to distance ourselves from that,” he said.

With the win, Flanagan said he thinks the first-year North American Hockey League team is beginning to show it's not to be taken lightly.

“We're getting there,” Flanagan said.

Smith said his team certainly learned its lesson Wednesday.

“You don’t take teams for granted in this league,” he said. “You just don’t do it.”

The loss was the third in a row for Alaska, which had won seven of eight before dropping a two-game series to Fairbanks, which is currently leading the North American Hockey League’s South division. Alaska is fourth, while Kenai River is fifth in the six-team division.

“It’s a wake-up call,” Smith said.

The loss dropped Alaska to 13-15-1 on the season, while Kenai River improved to 7-17-6.

The two teams will hook up again Friday and Saturday night in Wasilla, the final two games of the season between the two squads.

Avalanche tenders Service High standout

WASILLA — It wasn’t all bad news for the Avalanche Wednesday, as the team announced it’s getting one of Alaska’s top offensive players for next season.

Smith said the team has signed Anchorage forward Logan Rounds to a tender contract for next season. A senior from Service High, Rounds is among the leading scorers in the Cook Inlet Conference this season. On Wednesday, Smith said the signing follows the team’s stated mission of getting the best in-state prospects to play in Wasilla.

“We’re going after the best players we can get,” Smith said.

In addition to leading the Cougars in scoring, Rounds is also leading the AAA Alaska All-Stars Midget team with 15 points (11 goals, four assists) in 14 games this season.

“Logan is a skilled player who can create and make plays with the puck,” Smith said.

BROWN BEARS 7, AVALANCHE 3

Wednesday

Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena

Kenai River 0 1 6 —7

Alaska 1 0 2 —3

First period — 1. Alaska, Currier (Detlefsen), 15:03 (sh). Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00; Alaska 3 for 6:00.

Second period — 2. Kenai River, McDonald (Englebright, Murphy), 6:39. Penalties — Kenai River 5 for 10:00; Alaska 1 for 2:00.

Third period — 3. Alaska, Dargis (Pichler, Young), 2:32 (pp); 4. Kenai River, Bossert (McDonald), 5:47; 5. Alaska, McCurtain (Ranum), 7:07; 6. Kenai River, K. Harris (Bossert, J. Harris), 8:47; 7. Kenai River, Calma (Wentland, Deur), 11:54; 8. Kenai River, J. Harris (unassisted), 14:39; 9. Kenai River, Bossert (McDonald), 16:02; 10. Kenai River, McDonald (Peterson), 16:39. Penalties — Kenai River 3 for 6:00, Alaska 2 for 4:00.

Shots on goal — Kenai River 15-14-15—44; Alaska 6-10-10—26.

Goalies — Kenai River, Wichorek (26 shots-23 saves); Alaska, Corey (44 shots-37 saves).

Power plays — Kenai River 0 for 4; Alaska 1 for 8.