Avs fight through loss of top scorers to record win

WASILLA — The Alaska Avalanche scored their second straight victory over the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. And the Avs managed to do it without their top line for the final 44 minutes of the game.

Alaska scored three early goals, killed a key five-minute major and survived the loss of their top two leading scorers for the final two periods of the game during a 4-2 win over the Ice Dogs at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena on Friday.

“It was a big test of our character to have a short bench like that,” Alaska assistant captain Kyle Pichler said after the win. “It shows we can pull out wins when our backs are against the wall.”

Matthew Friese, Zach Smith and Jacob Barber each scored in the first period to give the Avs the early 3-1 lead.

Smith picked up a loose puck near the center line and slipped a breakaway goal under the glove hand of Fairbanks goalie Jake Williams to help give the Avs the early lead. But the Avs’ second-leading scorer’s night ended early after he and forward Nardo Nagtzaam, Alaska’s leading scorer, were handed game misconducts after a melee late in the first period.

The brawl also left Fairbanks with a five-minute power play.

The Ice Dogs skated with the man-advantage for the final 3:45 of the first period and first 1:15 of the second, but were unable to capitalize.

“That was huge,” Pichler said. “If Fairbanks would have scored on that, it would have tightened the game up and probably given them momentum. Any time you get a big penalty kill like that, it gives you momentum.”

Landon Peterson made 29 saves and stopped a Jared Larson penalty shot to earn the win in the Alaska net.

“He was really good all night,” Boitz said.

Friese gave the Avs the 1-0 lead when he tapped in the rebound of a Logan Rounds shot at the 4:18 mark of the first.

Exactly a minute after Smith gave Alaska the 2-1 lead, Barber added to the advantage when he crashed the net to knock in the rebound of an Andy Pearson attempt.

Jake Williams flipped a shot into the upper shelf of the Fairbanks net in the second period.

“When you lose your first line and your top two scorers, you just wonder,” Alaska head coach Dave Boitz said. “But we hung in there. Peterson made some great saves. We had some guys step up. We played a great hockey game.”

A bit of hockey madness led to the ejections and ensuing five-minute penalty.

With just less than four minutes left in the first, Alaska forward Robb Haider collided with Fairbanks defenseman Sean O’Rourke at mid-ice. Following the hit, which left O’Rourke lying on the ice, Fairbanks forward Will Aide smothered Haider with a fury of flying fists. In the chaos, Nagtzaam tied up with Fairbanks’ Zach Tolkinen, and Smith also found himself in a scuffle.

Nagtzaam, Smith, Aide and Tolkinen were all given fighting misconducts. Haider was also handed a five-minute major for fighting, the call that led to Fairbanks’ long power play.

Haider was not given a penalty for the hit, and O’Rourke returned to the ice later in the game. Boitz didn’t see the hit as an intentional cheap shot.

“Robby’s not that kind of player,” Boitz said. “That’s not how he plays.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Alaska 4, Fairbanks 2

Friday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Alaska- Friese (Rounds) 4:18; 2. Fairbank s- O’Rourke (Juola) 5:37; 3. Alaska- Smith (Parenteau) 13:43; 4. Alaska- Barber (Pearson, Schwartz) 14:43.

Second period — 5. Alaska- Williams (Rounds) 11:53; 6. Fairbanks- Krause (unassisted) 16:49.

Third period — no scoring.

Shots on goal: Fairbanks 13-11-7—31, Alaska 9-14-11—34; Saves: Fairbanks- Williams 6-13-11—30, Alaska- Peterson 12-10-7—31; Power plays: Fairbanks 0-for-3, Fairbanks 0-for-5; Penalties: Fairbanks 11-for-47, Alaska 9-for-56.

Alaska 4, Fairbanks 3

Saturday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Fairbanks- Krause (Juola) 1:23; 2. Fairbanks- Pustin (Juola, Saintey) 4:04; 3. Alaka- Rounds (Parenteau, Smith) pp 10:44.

Second period — 4. Alaska- Svoboda (Smith, Huppert) 3:36; 5. Alaska- Barber (Rounds, Williams) 8:23; 6. Alaska- Barber (Schwartz, Van Allen) 14:07; 7. Fairbanks- Politz (Larson, Waggoner) ea 18:55.

Third period — no scoring.

Shots on goal: Fairbanks 15-12-11—38, Alaska 12-11-6—29; Saves: Fairbanks- Williams 11-8-6—26, Alaska- Robertson 13-11-11—35; Power plays: Fairbanks 0-for-2, Alaska 1-for-3; Penalties: Fairbanks 7-for-23, Alaska 7-for-31.