Avalanche swept by rival Ice Dogs

WASILLA — With a three-game home series against second-place Fairbanks, the Alaska Avalanche were in good position to leap the Ice Dogs in the North American Hockey League West Division Standings. But Fairbanks netminder Joe Phillippi managed to screw those plans up.

Phillippi followed back-to-back shutouts with a 40-save performance during the Ice Dogs’ 5-1 win over the Avalanche Saturday at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

Alaska entered the series trailing second-place Fairbanks by just a point in the West Division standings. But thanks to Phillippi’s efforts in the Fairbanks net, the Ice Dogs now have a seven-point cushion. Fairbanks improved to 30-19-3 win the weekend-sweep. Alaska dropped to 25-16-6.

Phillippi stopped 93 of the 94 shots he saw during the series.

Second-year forward Zach Smith put the lone puck past Phillippi, scoring with just less than five minutes remaining in the first period of Saturday’s loss. That score, that included assists by defensemen Micki Mahailavich and Daniel Hildebrandt, tied the score at 1-1. But Fairbanks scored four unanswered goals in the third period.

Jared Larson posted a pair of goals in the Fairbanks win.

Alaska goalie Landon Peterson stopped 23 of the 24 shots she saw during the first two periods. Fairbanks outshot Alaska 18-5 in the third.

Fairbanks 5, Alaska 1

Saturday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Fairbanks- Larson (Schreiner, Spratte) 10:46, 2. Alaska- Smith (Mahailovich, Hildebrandt) 15:25.

Second period — no scoring.

Third period — 3. Fairbanks- Feavel (Krause, Nelson) 6:49, 4. Fairbanks- Kirchevel (McGill) 8:44, 5. Fairbanks- McGill (Tolkinen) pp 12:38, 6. Fairbanks- Larson (Tolkinen, Schreiner) 17:15.

Shots on goal: Fairbanks 13-11-18—42, Alaska 22-14-5—41; Saves: Fairbanks- Phillippi 21-14-5—40, Alaska- Peterson 12-11-14—37; Power plays: Fairbanks 1-for-5, Alaska 0-for-2.

Fairbanks 3, Alaska 0

Friday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Fairbanks- Juola (Nelson, Saintey) pp 1:20.

Second period — 2. Fairbanks- Nelson (Saintey, Juola) pp ea 0:39.

Third period — 3. Fairbanks- Kirchhevel (McGill, Carlston) en 18:53.

Shots on goal: Fairbanks 12-9-10—31, Alaska 8-6-7—21; Saves: Fairbanks- Phillippi 8-6-7—21, Alaska- Peterson 11-8-9—28; Power plays: Fairbanks 2-for-7, Alaska 0-for-6.