Dogs have Avs in corner

WASILLA — The Alaska Avalanche have only one thing on their minds — scoring a victory tonight.

With a win over the Fairbanks Ice Dogs at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks, the Avs remain alive in the North American Hockey League best-of-5 first-round playoff series. With a loss, the Avs are hanging up the skates for the season.

“We win on Friday, it changes the whole thing,” Alaska head coach Dave Boitz said earlier this week. “The whole thing could be turned around with one win on Friday night.”

Fairbanks took the two-game lead over the Avs and stole home ice advantage away from the Valley team with a pair of wins at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena last weekend. Alaska was hosting its first playoff games in Wasilla in franchise history, but Fairbanks played spoiler with a 2-1 overtime win last Friday and a 6-4 victory the following night. Now the Ice Dogs have returned to the Interior and stand within reach of clinching the series.

But Boitz said a single victory could change everything.

“We win (tonight) and all the pressure’s on them,” he said.

A win tonight would force a fourth game, scheduled for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. if necessary. Back-to-back wins up north would bring the series back to Wasilla. A fifth game would be played Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at the Menard. Winning consecutive games at the Big Dipper may seem like a tall order to some, but not to Boitz and the Avs.

“We’re being asked to sweep and win three in a row up there, and we’ve done both of those things,” Boitz said.

Alaska held a three-game winning streak over Fairbanks early in the season and swept a two-game series with the Ice Dogs in early March.

Fairbanks capped a roller-coaster Game 1 with a power-play goal 43 seconds into overtime. Alaska forward Zach Smith scored with 41 seconds left in regulation to tie the score at 1-1. Boitz said the emotions from the Friday loss could have carried over to Saturday.

“I thought we came out a little flat,” Boitz said of his team’s play during the 6-4 loss on Saturday. “The way things ended on Friday after being on such a high note, I didn’t think it would have the affect on us the way it did. It did take a lot out of us. We can’t let that happen.”

Fairbanks built a 5-1 lead through the first two periods, but Alaska cut into that advantage with three third-period goals. Seth Johnson sparked the rally, scoring 1:28 into the final period. Jed McGlasson and Kyle Pichler scored within a 1:13 span midway through the third.

“The good news about this team is they never quit,” Boitz said. “They nearly got back in it, but it was a little too much to overcome.”

The key for Fairbanks during the first weekend of the series was its play with the man advantage. The Ice Dogs were 4-for-9 on the power play, 3-for-4 on Saturday.

“They won their two games by a total of three goals,” Boitz said. “There’s your three goals.”

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