Avs bounce back to beat Dogs

WASILLA — Some nights, things just don’t bounce your way. And other nights they do.

On Friday night, the Alaska Avalanche’s bid to win a third consecutive win fell victim to some bad breaks as the Fairbanks Ice Dogs skated off with a 4-2 win at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

“They didn’t have one pretty goal,” Alaska defenseman Kent Detlefsen said following the game.

But on Saturday, things were quite different.

Alex Young netted a dramatic game-winning goal with 3:12 left in overtime to give the Avs a come-from-behind 3-2 victory.

For the second time in as many nights, Detlefsen got the Avs off to a rocking start with his patented slap shot, scoring a power play goal just two minutes into Saturday's series finale against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs.

Unfortunately for the Avs, the team again failed to protect the lead. But unlike Saturday, the Avalanche were able to strike back.

With an empty net at the other end, Alaska forward Kyle Pichler scored an unassisted goal with just 28.8 seconds remaining in the game, slinging a low rocket past Fairbanks goalie T.J. Fuller to send the game into overtime and bring the home crowd to its feet.

Fairbanks' Austin Block tied the game midway through the first period, but the Ice Dogs could get no more in the frame despite peppering Alaska goalie Dusan Sidor with 15 shots through the first 20 minutes of play.

Fairbanks took a 2-1 lead early in the second period when forward Randen Hill's rising wrister slipped past Sidor's left shoulder. The score came on Fairbanks' 23rd shot of the period, as the Ice Dogs went on to outshoot Alaska 32-13. Despite the big advantage in shots, Sidor kept Alaska within striking distance by stopping 30 of those shots though the first two frames.

Sidor kept the Avs in the game, making 39 saves through regulation. The Poprad, Slovakia native finished with 40 saves, keeping things close enough to set up Young's game-winning heroics.

On Friday night, all four Fairbanks goals came on deflections or rebounds in a tight, hard-fought game that was in doubt until late in the third period.

Detlefsen was responsible for getting the home crowd fired up when he ripped a rocket slap shot past Fairbanks goalie T.J. Fuller to give the Avs a 1-0 lead a little more than five minutes into the game.

But the Ice Dogs bit back big time, picking up three unanswered goals to close out the period.

Jon Waggoner started the onslaught, tying things up by converting a John Lennartson rebound just as an Alaska power play was expiring.

Fairbanks went ahead 2-1 when Aaron Stonacek deflected a Brock Shelgren shot past Alaska goalie Nathan Corey, who was unable to get his glove down before the puck rolled off his left leg pad and into the goal.

The Ice Dogs then got their third goal of the period when the opportunistic Stonacek got a hold of a Paul Kirtland shot that squirted through Corey’s legs and trickled across the crease — and directly on to Stonacek’s stick.

The odd goal was typical of Fairbanks’ night. Although the Ice Dogs out-shot Alaska by a 41-19 margin, the goals Fairbanks managed to score were all on rebounds or oddly tipped shots that left Corey without much chance of making a save.

“The first three of their goals never hit the back of the net,” Alaska head coach Jamie Smith said following the game.

Alaska’s Joe Harren cut the Fairbanks advantage to 3-2 with his first goal as a member of the Avalanche after being added to the roster this week. Harren also assisted on Detlefesn’s opening goal.

Smith said Harren, a native of Warroad, Minn., should help add punch to an offense that ranks near the bottom of the North American Hockey League.

“He came in and played well for us,” he said.

The Alaska coach said the addition of Harren is among several moves the team has made in the past couple days to help strengthen the lineup.

“We’re putting some pieces together,” he said.

Smith said he was pleased with his team’s effort, but said he was disappointed because a victory would have given the team its third consecutive win for the first time since December of 2005.

“It would have been huge for us,” Smith said.

Corey finished the game with 37 saves on 41 shots for Alaska, and was responsible for several crucial stops in the second period, including one where he grabbed a loose puck with his glove hand as it sat dangerously on the Alaska goal line. Despite getting outshot 33-15 though two periods, the Avs entered the third period down just a single goal, thanks mainly to Corey’s solid efforts in net.

Fairbanks’ offense took a big hit in the second when Andrew McCabe — who entered the game tied for seventh in the NAHL in scoring — left the ice with what appeared to be a severe lower leg injury.

Fairbanks head coach Rob Proffitt said the extent of McCabe’s injury was unknown, but that the forward would have to go to the hospital to get checked out.

Alaska out-played Fairbanks during lengthy stretches of the final 20 minutes, but was unable time and again to break through for an equalizer.

“I thought we had a chance to come back and get one,” Detlefsen said.

Despite the Avs’ best efforts, Fairbanks held on long enough to find a last nail for Alaska’s coffin. The Ice Dogs iced the game late in the third period when Austin Block deflected a Matt Carlson shot past Corey to provide the final margin of

victory.

Following Friday’s game, Proffitt — with a bit of foreshadowing of Saturday’s fireworks — said he believes the tightly-contested game won’t be the last between the two NAHL South Division rivals.

“It’s gonna be a pretty good series all year long,” Proffitt said.

Indeed.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com

FAIRBANKS 4, ALASKA 2

Friday, Menard Memorial Arena

Avalanche 1 1 0 — 2

Fairbanks 3 0 1 — 4

First period — 1. Alaska- Detlefsen (Dargis, Harren), 5:41; 2. Fairbanks- Waggoner (Bidwill, McCabe), 11:51; 3. Fairbanks- Stonacek (Shelgren, McCabe), 13:00; 4. Stonacek (Kirtland, Bennis), 19:20.

Second Period — 5. Alaska- Harren (Kelly), 6:47.

Third Period — 6. Fairbanks- Block (Carlson, Kirtland), 16:24.

Shots on goal: Alaska 8-7-4 — 19, Fairbanks 18-15-8 — 41. Saves: Alaska- Corey 15-15-7 — 37, Fairbanks- Fuller 7-6-4 — 17. Power plays: Alaska 0-for-4, Fairbanks 1-for5. Penalties: Alaska 7 for 17; Fairbanks 6 for 15.