Avs Friese Wildcats

WASILLA — It took a Friese to preserve the hot streak.

Adam Friese scored in a shootout to give Alaska a 4-3 win over the Wichita Falls Wildcats at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena on Tuesday, and stretch the Avs’ league-high winning streak to six games.

Friese, Alaska’s ninth shooter of the tiebreaker, used a “sick move” to absolutely fool Wichita Falls netminder Mike Jarobe and give Alaska its eighth win since the beginning of January.

“At first, I didn’t think I’d be picked to go, but I was watching the goalie just in case,” Friese said after the win. “Coach was pacing the bench, and I said I’ve got a sick move, I’ve got to try it.”

Alaska head coach Dave Boitz joked, “it took him six shooters to tell me that,” and if he knew about Friese’s skills in the shootout, he’d of put out on the ice much sooner.

But better late than never.

After fellow forward Logan Rounds beat Jarobe earlier in the shootout and seven others Alaska players missed the target, Friese slowly skated for the puck at center ice, gradually speeded up en route to the goal and made a quick move to the right as he skated to the crease. At the last second, just before Friese’s momentum carried him to the red line, the former Wasilla High School standout moved his stick back to the left, and slipped the puck by Jarobe low and on the glove side.

“I never used it in a game,” Friese said. “I do it all the time in practice.”

Jake Parenteu, Robb Haider and Jason Cohen also scored for Alaska in the win, and goalie Nate Pellegrino stopped 57 Wichita Falls shots to earn his fifth win in as many starts. The Avs also erased at least a two-goal deficit for the third time during its six-game streak.

“We keep battling back,” Boitz said. “That’s kind of our story.”

Brett Kaneshiro and Adam Kuhn each posted power play goals for the Wildcats during the first period to give Wichita Falls the early two-goal lead.

Kaneshiro threw in a shot from point and beat a screened Pellegrino six minutes into action to put Wichita Falls up 1-0. Kuhn added to that advantage seven minutes later when he skated untouched from one end of the rink to the other and slipped the puck below Pellegrino’s glove hand.

But as the Avs have shown a number of times since the holiday break, a deficit doesn’t necessarily mean disaster. Parenteu and Haider responded with goals in the final seven minutes of the period.

“We find our way out of holes,” Friese said.

Parenteu answered Kuhn’s scores just 22 seconds after Wichita Falls took the 2-0 lead.

Following Kuhn’s score, on the ensuing face-off, Parenteu skated into the Wildcats’ zone, pulled up near the right circle and fired a quick wrist shot past Jarobe.

During the final minute of the period, Haider popped in the rebound of a Tyler Krueger shot to tie the score at 2-2. The first-year forward, who stretched his goal-scoring streak to five games with the tally, showed veteran savvy on the play. Parked on the right side of the Wichita Falls net, Krueger’s shot from the point bounced right to the former South Anchorage High School standout. Sitting alone on that side of the net, Haider took time to mark his shot rather than simply taking a quick whack at the puck. The patience paid off and Haider lifted the puck past Jarobe.

“He’s got it right now,” Boitz said of Haider, who has eight points (5-3-8) during his five-game goal scoring streak.

Cohen scored on the power play midway through second period to tie the score for the Avalanche. The Alaska blueliner got the puck in the offensive zone, stepped up into open space and rifled a shot past Jarobe.

The North American Hockey League rivals played a scoreless third period and overtime before the shootout. Wichita Falls outshot Alaska 27-14 during the final 25 minutes, and 13-0 during the overtime.

Nearly all of the Wildcats’ overtime shots came on the power-play after Alaska was whistled with a questionable call during the final minute of regulation.

As the clock hit the 19-minute mark of the third, Alaska forward Cory Belisle led a 2-on-1 break down the ice, but before the Avs could put a shot on net, the Avs’ odd-man rush turned into a high sticking call.

The Avs killed the penalty, despite giving up double digits in shots during the two-minute stretch.

“That took a lot of wind out of our sails in overtime,” Boitz said of killing the controversial call. “That really did tire us out.”

Wichita Falls outshot Alaska 60-46 in the game, but the Avs did put 18 shots on goal in the second period.

“Their goalie kept them in it in the second period,” Boitz said of the Avs’ who also had three shots ring off the post during the second frame.

With the win, Alaska improved to 17-18-1. The Avs are currently in third place of the NAHL West, but are now within reach of second-place Wenatchee, which at 17-15-2 is just one point ahead of the Avs in the standings.

Next week, Alaska will host the Avs in a pivotal two-game series against the Wild at the Menard Memorial Arena. The series starts Tuesday in Wasilla.

“We’re just one point behind them. We’ve got to come out flying,” Friese said.

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

Alaska 4, Wichita Falls 3 SO

Tuesday, Menard Memorial Arena

First period — 1. Wichita Falls- Kaneshiro (Amin, Hudson) pp 6:02, 2. Wichita Falls- Kuhn (Kaneshiro, Jarboe) pp 13:18, 3. Alaska- Parenteu (Pichler, Erlacher) 13:40, 4. Alaska- Haider (Krueger, Giles) 19:05.

Second period — 5. Wichita Falls- Kuhn (McKenzie, Iaquinto) 0:34, 6. Alaska- Cohen (Pichler, McNeely) 12:11.

Third period — no scoring.

Overtime — no scoring.

Shootout — 7. Alaska- Friese