Avs post weekend sweep

WASILLA — After watching his team pick up two straight wins for the first time in nearly a year, Alaska Avalanche head coach Jamie Smith was all smiles Sunday evening.

“Good weekend,” Smith said outside the team’s locker room at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

Good?

Try great, coach.

Alaska defenseman Scott Barrera scored the lone goal of a six-round shootout Sunday evening, and Dusan Sidor stopped 30 of 32 shots as the Avs downed the Kenai River Brown Bears 3-2. Combined with an historic 8-1 thrashing of the Texas Tornado Saturday, it marked the first time the Avalanche put together back-to-back wins since November of 2006.

“The guys are starting to buy into the system,” Smith said.

Despite entering the weekend with the North American Hockey League’s lowest-scoring offense, the Avalanche exploded for 11 goals over two games, including two in a span of 31 seconds Sunday that staked the team to a 2-0 lead after the first period.

With two minutes to go in period, Alaska defenseman J.C. Richardson found forward Kyle Pichler free directly in front of the net. Pichler took his time and calmly settled himself before shoveling a backhand shot past Kenai River goalie Matt Wichorek.

Just 31 seconds later, the suddenly high-powered Alaska offense again found the net, this time after forward Tyler Currier hit linemate Alex Rasmussen with a perfect feed at center ice. Rasmussen’s breakaway shot snuck past Wichorek, and Alaska suddenly found itself protecting a 2-0 lead heading into the second period.

The Brown Bears didn’t go away quietly. Kenai River pulled to within 2-1 on a Jeffrey Harris goal in the second period on a fluttering shot that got past Sidor, who was screened on the play.

Harris’ second power-play goal of the game with 11:44 to go in the third tied things up, and the teams skated five scoreless minutes in overtime to set up Barrera’s heroics.

After watching 11 players fail to find the back of the net during the shootout, the Chicago native said he had a hunch he’d be the hero.

“I’d watched four or five guys, so I kind of knew what to do,” he said.

One shooter earlier, defenseman Kent Detlefsen had tried to use his powerful slap shot to beat Wichorek. After watching Detlefsen’s try, Barrera decided to switch things up. He first faked a slap shot, then quickly cut back across the goal.

“When you do that, the goalie’s legs open right up,” he said.

Barrera put the puck between Wichorek’s skates, bringing the crowd of 753 to its feet and setting off a wild on-ice celebration.

Coming into Saturday’s game against Texas, Alaska’s leading scorer had been defenseman Detlefsen, a point Smith said he used to challenge his forwards before the Texas game. The pep talk must have worked, as forwards Michael McCurtain and Tyler Currier each found the net twice against the Tornado, while forward Jeremiah Dargis added another.

“(Smith) gave us a little crap,” Currier said Sunday. “We decided as forwards that we had to step it up.”

With the forwards finally coming alive, things started clicking Saturday night against Texas. Barrera added two goals, and Detlefsen had one as the Avs racked up eight goals in one game for just the second time in franchise history. The seven-goal margin of victory also ranked as the largest in the club’s three seasons in the North American Hockey League.

Team members said the most encouraging thing about the weekend sweep was the fact that it wasn’t just one or two players getting involved, but everyone. A total of 13 different Avalanche players picked up points over the two games, including multiple-point efforts from Currier, McCurtain, Rasmussen, forward Dylan Jones, Detlefsen and Barrera.

“It’s a whole team effort,” Currier said. “That’s the way to go.”

The team’s two goalies, Nathan Corey and Sidor, also had a stellar weekend. The duo combined to turn back 47 of 50 shots over two games, including a 17-save win by Corey on Saturday.

“Everybody did what they had to do,” Sidor said following Sunday’s win.

Sidor was the other star of the shootout Sunday. Consistently coming far out of his net to challenge Kenai River defenders, the Poprad, Slovakia, product was able to stonewall one Brown Bears shooter after another.

“I kind of try to control what the other player is doing,” he said.

The two wins moved Alaska (5-9-1) to within two points of Texas for fourth place in the NAHL’s South Division, while Kenai River (3-11-2) earned just its eighth point of the season for the shootout loss.

The first-year Brown Bears have struggled to find victories this year following a season-opening win over the Avs, though Flanagan said there were some positives to take away from Sunday’s game.

“Any time you can get a point on the road, it’s good,” Brown Bears head coach Mike Flanagan said.

Kenai River played well offensively, putting 32 shots on goal, including 15 in the third period.

“We got our chances,” Flanagan said.

While the Brown Bears are trying to get things going, it appears as if the Avalanche have figured out the secret to success. After celebrating with his team in the locker room Sunday night, forward Tyler Currier said he believes the team is in position to start making NAHL winning streaks less of a novelty.

“Hopefully, it’s got us started on a roll.”

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

ALASKA 3, KENAI RIVER 2 (Shootout)

Sunday

Avalanche 2 0 0 0 (1) — 3

Tornado 0 1 1 0 (0) — 2

Scoring:

First Period — 1. Alaska- Pichler (Richardson, Jones), 17:59; 2. Rasmussen (Currier), 18:30.

Second Period — 3. Kenai River- Harris (Johansson, Simson), pp. 4:38.

Third Period — 4. Kenai River- Harris (Simson, Norris), pp, 11:44.

Overtime — none.

Shootout — 5. Alaska- Barrera.

Shots on goal: Alaska 7-10-12-1-1 — 31; Kenai River 6-10-15-1-0 — 32.

Power plays: Alaska 0-for-7; Kenai River 2-for-7. Penalties: Alaska 8 for 16 minutes; Kenai River 9 for 26 minutes. Saves: Alaska- Sidor 6-9-14-1 — 30. Kenai River- Wichorek 5-10-12-1-0 — 28.

ALASKA 8, TEXAS 1

Saturday

Avalanche 2 4 2 — 8

Tornado 0 0 1 — 1

Scoring:

First Period — 1. Alaska, Currier (un), 7:23; 2. Alaska, Barrera (Highley, Detlefsen), 8:52

Second Period — 3. Alaska, McCurtain (Currier), 0:58; 4. Alaska, McCurtain (Tierden, Currier), pp, 9:15; 5. Alaska, Currier (Rasumssen), sh, 12:44; 6. Alaska, Detlefsen (Jones), 16:18

Third Period — 7. Alaska, Dargis (Waldrop), 9:49; 8. Alaska, Barrera (Ranum), 10:43; 9. Texas, Fuller (O’Connor), pp, 14:50

Shots on goal: Alaska 11-17-10 — 38; Texas 3-10-5 — 18.

Power plays: Alaska 1-for-8; Texas 1-for-9. Penalties: Alaska 11 for 30 minutes; Texas 9 for 34 minutes. Saves: Alaska- Corey 3-10-4 — 17. Texas- Zacharias 9-6-x — 15; Shively x-7-8 — 15.