Avalanche skate way into 1st

PALMER — The Alaska Avalanche skated into the first intermission one goal behind, but for the final two periods the Avs seemed to always be one step ahead.

Alaska used its speed on both ends of the ice to score five unanswered goals during the final two periods of a 5-1 win over the Fairbanks Ice Dogs Friday at the MTA Palmer Ice Arena.

“We’ve talked about chemistry with the lines, guys know where guys are right now,” Alaska head coach Brian Huebel said after the win. “That allows you to utilize that speed even more. It opens it up a bit.”

Captain Zach Smith scored twice during a 41-second span, and forwards Jake Barber, Blake Huppert and Brandon Brossoit added goals to help the Avs move into first place of the North American Hockey League West Division standings. The Avs’ speed factored into each of their scores, and Huebel said it was the play at both ends of the ice that helped Alaska strike with its speed.

“A lot of work was done in the defensive zone to help make those plays happen,” Huebel said. “We stressed out of the first period with the neutral zone coming through there both offensively and defensively, coming through there with some purpose. We definitely did that from the second period on.”

Barber put the Avs on the scoreboard early in the first period. He took a feed from defenseman Jake Williams, sped into the Fairbanks defensive zone and slipped a puck past Ice Dogs goalie Joe Phillippi.

With just more than 10 minutes to go in the second, the Avs sent a pass into the Fairbanks zone. Smith sped forward, chased down the puck at the left wing circle and put a big slap shot past Phillippi. About 40 seconds later, Smith struck again. The Anchorage native got by the defense and found the back of the net.

The Avs continued to storm by the Ice Dogs in the third, getting goals from Huppert and Brossoit.

“We feel like they got tired in the third period,” Huppert said. “We just kept battling, kept going.”

Early in the third, Huppert stole the puck from a Fairbanks defenseman, broke free and scored shorthanded to give Alaska the 4-1 lead.

“That was a great individual effort,” Huebel said.

Later in the period, Brossoit chased down a loose puck, created a breakaway and scored.

“He just outskated everyone,” Huebel said.

Alaska first-year goalie Blake Mendenhall was stellar in net, stopping 29 shots in the win.

“He was unreal,” Huppert said. “By far this was his best junior game of the season.”

Alaska 5, Fairbanks 1

Friday, Palmer Ice Arena

First period – 1. Fairbanks- Osborn (Jensen, Thauwald) 8:51.

Second period – 2. Alaska- Barber (Williams, Senkbeil) pp 1:17; 3. Alaska- Smith (Williams) 9:16; 4. Alaska- Smith (Schmitz, Huppert) 9:57.

Third period – 5. Alaska- Huppert (unassisted) sh 0:40; 6. Alaska- Brossoit (unassisted) 5:26.

Shots on goal: Fairbanks 13-7-10—30, Alaska 6-12-9—27; Saves: Fairbanks- Phillippi 6-9-7—22, Alaska- Mendenhall 12-7-10—29; Power plays: Fairbanks 0-for-7, Alaska 1-for-5; Penalties: Fairbanks 17-for-63, Alaska 19-for-75.

Dogs bite back

WASILLA — The Fairbanks Ice Dogs moved back into a first-place tie with Alaska with a 5-3 win over the Avs at the MTA Palmer Ice Arena on Saturday.

Trailing 2-0, the Ice Dogs scored five straight to take the 5-2 lead into the final period.

Former North Pole standout Jared Linnell scored twice. Former Lathrop skater Taylor Munson had a goal and an assist.

Zach Smith and Brandon Brossoit scored power-play goals to give the Avs the lead. Ross Pavek added a third-period goal for Alaska.

Fairbanks 5, Alaska 3

Saturday, Palmer Arena

First period — 1. Alaska- Smith (Senkbeil, Whitehill) pp 5:02; 2. Alaska- Brossoit (Barber, Senkbeil) pp 8:04; 3. Fairbanks- Linnell (Hajdukovich) 12:58; 4. Fairbanks- Thauwald (Osborn, Jensen) pp 18:15.

Second period — 5. Fairbanks- Levin (unassisted) 0:19; 6. Fairbanks- Munson (Linnell, Hajdukovich) 1:14; 7. Fairbanks- Linnell (Munson, O’Rourke) 6:54.

Third period — 8. Alaska- Pavek (Dye, Williams) 12:51.

Shots on goal: Fairbanks 8-10-5—23, Alaska 12-5-17—34; Saves: Fairbanks- Perry 31; Alaska- Peterson 6, Mendenhall 12.