Avs sweep into first

PALMER — Welcome to first place, Alaska Avalanche.

The Avs forced a three-way tie for first place of the North American Hockey League West Division with a 2-1 win over the Wenatchee Wild Wednesday at the Palmer Ice Arena.

“It feels good, but we still have a lot of work to do,” Alaska captain Zach Smith said after the win, which capped a two-game mid-week sweep of the Wild.

Alaska followed a 3-2 win on Tuesday with another one-goal victory Wednesday night to improve to 12-7-2 overall and climb into that three-way tie for first, alongside Wenatchee and the Fairbanks Ice Dogs.

Those two other teams that sit with the Avs at the top of the NAHL West ladder are also Alaska’s two opponents during a tough stretch that features four games during a five-day span. Alaska hosts Fairbanks tonight and Saturday at the Palmer Ice Arena.

“It feels good to be (in first place). We’re going to enjoy this, but we’ve got to turn around really quickly and play Fairbanks,” Alaska head coach Brian Huebel said.

Alaska’s wins over Wenatchee prevented the Wild from gaining any ground in a six-team division that is separated by only eight points in the standings.

“I can’t stress enough, we’ve got to come ready to play every single game,” Huebel said. “It’s going to be tight all year.”

Alaska also jumped three spots with the wins.

“We were sitting in fifth place going into these two games and all the sudden we’re tied (for first),” Huebel said. “It’s going to be like this all year, which is good.”

Alaska used three unanswered goals on Tuesday to notch a come-from-behind win and opened Wednesday’s win with a two-goal lead.

“We just knew we had to come out in the first like we did in the third (Tuesday night),” Smith said. “We knew if we came out and played to our potential, no one can beat us.”

Smith sparked the Tuesday comeback with a power-play goal late in the second period.

Forward Jake Barber, who has been on an absolute tear with eight points in the last five games, scored twice on the power play during the third period to give the Avs the win.

“He worked hard this summer and it’s paying off for him. He deserves it,” Smith said of Barber, who now leads the Avs with 25 points (16 goals, 9 assists) in 23 games.

Barber’s linemates, Brandon Brossoit and Andy Pearson, struck twice Wednesday. Brossoit scored unassisted late in the first to give the Avs the 1-0 lead. Barber set up a Pearson goal 31 seconds into the second period.

‘They have great chemistry,” Huebel said of the Barber-Brossoit-Pearson line. “They know where each other are. They play well together. It’s all about chemistry and they definitely have it going.”

That line generated four of Alaska’s five goals in the series, but Huebel is also thrilled with the play of his other three forward lines.

Alaska goaltender Landon Peterson was stellar in net once again, stopping 30 of the 31 shots he faced on Wednesday. Wenatchee’s lone goal came midway through the third when Ben Carey was able to sneak a puck from the wall behind the net through traffic and by Peterson’s stick side. Peterson also made 35 saves on Tuesday.

Alaska 2, Wenatchee 1

Wednesday, Palmer Ice Arena

Wenatchee 0-0-1—1

Alaska 1-1-0—2

First period – 1. Alaska- Brossoit (unassisted) 18:36.

Second period – 2. Alaska- Pearson (Barber, Senkbeil) 0:31.

Third period – 3. Wenatchee- Carey (unassisted) 12:15.

Shots on goal: Wenatchee 6-17-8—31, Alaska 8-12-6—26; Saves: Wenatchee- Jaeger 7-11 6—24, Alaska- Peterson 6-17-7—30; Power plays: Wenatchee 0-for-6, Alaska 0-for-6.

Alaska 3, Wenatchee 2

Tuesday, Palmer Ice Arena

Wenatchee 2-0-0—2

Alaska 0-1-2—3

First period – 1. Wenatchee- Vandercook (Hope) 1:14; 2. Wenatchee- McHugh (Schmidbauer) 13:18.

Second period – 3. Alaska- Smith (Huppert, Senkbeil) pp 3:45.

Third period – 4 Alaska- Barber (Williams, Brossoit) pp 3:46; 5. Alaska- Barber (Senkbeil, Brossoit) pp 4:12.

Shots on goal: Wenatchee 15-7-15—37, Alaska 10-13-13—36; Power plays: Wenatchee 0-for-6, Alaska 3-for-6.