Bears get key win over Avs

PALMER — The Alaska Avalanche and Kenai River Brown Bears are in a race, and just not against each other.

Second-place Alaska is chasing North American Hockey League West Division leader Fairbanks. Kenai River is locked in a battle with Fresno in a race for the fourth and final postseason berth from the NAHL West.

In a key series for both teams, the Brown Bears gained some position in their race. Kenai River moved into a fourth-place tie with Fresno after a 5-2 win over the Alaska Avalanche at the MTA Events Center in Palmer. That win, combined with Friday’s overtime loss, give the Bears three points for the weekend and a jump in the standings.

“The bottom line for us, we’re in a race against Fresno. We’re not in direct competition with the Avs. They have some good separation from us,” David said. “To be honest with you, I’d be happy with one point this weekend. I know that sounds pretty weird, but any point we can get is crucial in this race.”

Alaska, meanwhile, slipped to 29-15-3 with the loss. The Avs, with 61 points in the team standings, are eight points behind Fairbanks, which swept Fresno in California over the weekend.

Kenai River scored twice in the first and three times in the third en route to the win, which lifted Kenai to 24-20-3 overall and in the tie with Frenso with 51 points in the standings.

“We won the first and we won the third,” David said.

That was big for the Bears, who rallied to tie the score on Friday, but watched Alaska score the game-winning goal seconds into overtime.

Alaska had a chance to celebrate on Friday, and one of the team’s new additions had an opportunity to introduce himself to his new home crowd.

Tanner Fahlstedt, who was acquired in a trade with Wichita Falls before the North American Hockey League trade deadline, scored 29 seconds into overtime to lead his new team to a 4-3 overtime win over the Brown Bears Friday.

Defenseman Justin Lutsch, who was brought to Alaska in a trade with New Mexico, also made his debut in the game, which was also Alaska’s first action in nearly a month.

Wehebe Darge, who skated in the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament last week, scored 23 seconds into play Friday to give the Avs the early lead.

Kenai tied the score later in the third, but Alaska scored during the first minute of the second period.

Casey Nelson’s unassisted tally gave the Avs the 2-1 advantage. Captain Joe Schmitz also scored during the period.

On Saturday, Marek Hemsky scored twice in the third period and Matt Thompson grabbed a pair of goals in the game for Kenai River. Jesse Ramsey bagged a goal and an assist. Both of Ramsey’s points came during the key first period.

“The start of the game is pretty crucial, especially losing in overtime last night after coming back in the third,” David said. “We had a very good start. I felt there was not very much pressure against.”

Kenai River took the lead with the pair of first-period goals. Alaska was able to cut the lead in half during the second. Tanner Fahlstedt led a 2-on-1 and fed Evan Hesse with a pass across the zone. Hesse took the pass on the left wing and tucked it inside the far post.

But in the third, Kenai River was able to push its advantage.

Brett Lubanski pulled a puck from the corner and fed a centering pass to Thompson, who scored. That made it 3-1.

Less than five minutes later, Frere flipped in a shot from the point, which was redirected into the net by Hemsky.

The Brown Bears points come on the heels of suffering a pair of losses to Wenatchee last weekend. This weekend, Frenso suffered a pair of losses to Fairbanks and didn’t earn any points in the standings.

“We end up in a playoff hockey spot in 24 hours of hockey, but just as quickly it can go away,” David said.

Kenai River hosts Alaska for a pair of games next weekend.

“Unfortunately for us, we have the Avs and Fairbanks for eight of the next 10 games while we try to make up points on Fresno,” David said. “Our road is arguably the toughest from here on out.”

Alaska 4, Kenai River 3 OT

Friday, MTA Events Center

First period — 1. Alaska, Darge (Hansen), 0:23; 2. Kenai River, Lubanski (Stefan), 6:25. Penalties — Kenai River 1 for 2:00; Alaska 1 for 2:00.

Second period — 3. Alaska, Nelson (un), 0:49; 4. Alaska, Schmitz (Kontny), 11:59. Penalties — Kenai River 3 for 6:00; Alaska 3 for 6:00.

Third period — 5. Kenai River, Arkimo (Wasell, Walker), 16:10; 6. Kenai River, Hemsky (Stenehjem, Lubanski), 16:36. Penalties — Kenai River 3 for 6:00; Alaska 1 for 2:00.

Overtime — 7. Alaska, Fahlstedt (Schmitz), 0:29. Penalties — none.

Shots on goal — Kenai River 8-7-6-0—21; Alaska 7-10-9-1—27.

Goalies — Kenai River, Grunwald (17 shots, 14 saves); Severson (10 shots, 9 saves); Alaska, Kulmanovsky (21 shots, 18 saves).

Power plays — Kenai River 0 for 5; Alaska 0 for 7.

Kenai River 5, Alaska 2

Saturday, MTA Events Center

First period - 1. Kenai River- Ramsey (Thompson, Muller) 12:42; 2. Kenai River- Thompson (Ramsey, Lubanski) pp 19:06.

Second period - 3. Alaska- Hesse (Fahlstedt) pp 15:45.

Third period - 4. Kenai River- Thompson (Lubanski) 2:41; 5. Kenai River- Hemsky (Frere, Muller) pp 8:22; 6. Alaska- Kinkopf (Hesse, Wright) pp 11:47; 7. Kenai River- Hemsky (Blessing, Lubanski) 15:03.

Shots on goal: Kenai River 13-3-5-21, Alaska 8-11-13-32.