Avs brace for wild final weekend to NAHL regular season

PALMER — Two nights, four teams and three playoff seeds to be determined.

That’s the final weekend of the North American Hockey League West Division regular season.

The Alaska Avalanche host the Kenai River Brown Bears at the MTA Events Center tonight and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Palmer. The results of those games, coupled with the outcome of Wenatchee’s two-game home series against Fresno in Wenatchee, Wash., this weekend, will decide the final three seeds in the NAHL West.

Only thing has been set, so far. Fairbanks clinched the West last weekend, and regardless of what happens during a pair of home games against Dawson Creek this weekend, the Ice Dogs will skate into the NAHL playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the division.

But after that, it’s all up in the air.

Wenatchee (34-17-7) heads into tonight’s action in second place with 75 points in the standings. The Wild sit just a point above the Avalanche (35-19-4), who split a midweek series with Dawson Creek.

The Wild and Avs will meet in the first round of the playoffs. The only question is which team will officially finish in second place of the division.

Fresno (27-21-10) enters weekend play in fourth with 64 points in the standings. Kenai River (29-25-4) sits only two points behind the Monsters.

The top four teams in the division advance to the postseason. Fresno would clinch the final playoff spot tonight with a win and a Brown Bears loss.

“Scoreboard watching could play a big role into it,” Alaska assistant coach Josh Petrich said Thursday night. “If Wenatchee gets up early, Kenai might battle a little harder. Let’s say Fresno is up, we might be able to jump on (Kenai) a little early.”

Wenatchee hosts Fresno tonight at 6:05 p.m. AST, and the Wild and Monsters could be well into their game before the Avs and Brown Bears take the ice for a 7:30 p.m. start.

Petrich said the Avs coaching staff has not decided how it will handle the scoreboard watching. The players are not allowed to have cellphones on game nights, but Petrich and head coach Corey Millen will most likely be paying attention to what’s going on in Washington.

“It’s going to be funny. It’s going to depend on coaching tactics,” Petrich said.

Regardless of what’s appearing on the scoreboard, all four teams should enter the weekend eager to take care of business. Alaska has had the advantage against Kenai River so far this season, sporting a 9-4-1 record against the Bears. The Avs scored a two-game sweep of their Peninsula rival earlier this month.

Fresno, meanwhile, has a 6-3-1 mark against Wenatchee and has taken three straight from the Wild.

Alaska is fresh off a two-game split with Dawson Creek.

The Aves used four unanswered goals to beat the Rage 4-1 on Tuesday. Dawson Creek took 1-0 lead into the first intermission, but rookie forward Evan Janssen sparked the team with a power-play goal seven minutes into the second.

“With this team, once we get one we can roll,” Petrich said after the win. “That one is always tough for us.”

Veteran Brandon Brossoit also scored in the second. Jordan Watt and Gage Christianson added third-period goals.

Alaska outshot Dawson 43-16 in the win.

The Avs also outshot the Rage on Wednesday, but were forced to take the 5-2 loss. Despite a 42-13 margin in total shots, the Rage managed to pop five pucks into the net.

Brossoit and Kevin Novakovich scored goals for Alaska.

Christianson used an assist Wednesday to make franchise history. The Anchorage native became the first 50-point scorer in team history. Christianson now has 16 goals and 34 assists, for a team-high 50 points.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports.

Alaska 4, Dawson Creek 1

Tuesday, MTA Events Center

First period — 1. Dawson Creek- Wark (Hartley, Zipp) 9:12.

Second period — 2. Alaska- Janssen (Christianson, Fahlstadt) pp 7:40; 3. Alaska- Brossoit (Nelson, Fahlstadt) 14:22.

Third period — 4. Alaska- Watt (Bergh, Kontny) 3:38; 5. Alaska- Christianson (Janssen, Smith-Mass) en 19:30.

Shots on goal: Dawson Creek 5-8-3—16, Alaska 14-15-14—43; Saves: Dawson Creek- Dawson 14-13-12—39, Alaska- Kulmanovsky 4-8-3—15; Power plays: Dawson Creek 0 for 2, Alaska 1 for 4.

Dawson Creek 5, Alaska 2

Wednesday, MTA Events Center

First period — 1. Dawson- McCallum (Page) pp 13:50; 2. Dawson Creek- McCallum (Petrick) 16:33.

Second period — 3. Alaska- Brossoit (Fahlstadt, Darge) 13:31; 4. Dawson Creek- Petrick (Hartley, Matthews) 15:15.

Third period — 5. Alaska- Novakovich (Christianson) 6:19; 6. Dawson Creek- Page (Bailey) 8:47; 7. Dawson Creek- Wark (Bailey, Mueller) 13:45.

Shots on goal: Dawson Creek 3-7-3—13, Alaska 8-16-18-42; Power plays: Dawson Creek 1 for 2, Alaska 0 for 4.