Goalie saves the day

DARRELL L. BREESE

Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - If the Wasilla Spirit's game Saturday night was a measuring stick, the junior hockey team should be in good shape for the rest of the season.

The Spirit topped their cross-state rival Fairbanks Ice Dogs 4-1 at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Arena.

After being dominated by the Dogs in Fairbanks on Friday, the Spirit snapped a three-game losing skid thanks in part to the play of goalie Jerry Kuhn. A performance spirit coach Dean Larson hopes will give his team some confidence to build on.

"It was a big win for us, because we hadn't played well against them this season," Larson said. "We didn't play a perfect game by any means, but we played well, and we played hard. And Jerry gave us a great effort in net."

Winning the game was something that his teammates wanted to do for Kuhn.

"He kind of got beat up in Fairbanks (on Friday)," said Eric Dahl who scored two goals during the game, "Plus this is our place and we're not going to let some one bully us in our house."

Following his empty net tally with a less than a minute left in the game, making the score 3-1, Dahl turned and pointed to Kuhn indicating that he had scored for his goalie.

"It was a way of thanking Jerry for a great game," Dahl said. "He really came up with some big saves in the third to preserve our lead. That goal was as much for him as it was for the rest of the team."

Kuhn, who hails from Southgate, Michigan, turned away 29 total shots including three Ice Dog breakaways in the third period.

"I was a little concerned when they scored in the first," Kuhn said. "But I knew if I stayed focused we could get back into the game."

Dahl poked the puck beneath the leg pad of Ice Dog goalie Bryce Christiansen and into the net for the Spirit's first goal early in the second period to tie the game. A little more than a minute later David Gault, the teams leading scorer, lifted the puck over Christiansen from the middle of a scramble in front of the net giving the Spirit a 2-1 lead. That proved to be all they needed.

Following Dahl's empty netter in the third, Gault added one of his own with 10 seconds left, giving the Spirit a 4-1 win.

Part of the Spirit's success was their penalty kill. In addition to the play of Kuhn, the Wasilla defense held the Ice Dogs' power play in check, keeping them scoreless on six attempts.

Kuhn deflected the attention away from himself instead he praised the performance of his teammates for their success on the penalty kill.

"It was a team effort," Kuhn said. "It's not about me making saves. We win or lose as a team. And everyone contributed to the win."

The Spirit and the Ice Dogs play another home and home series Friday and Saturday. Friday night they play in Fairbanks and Saturday they will face off at the Menard Arena. Following the game the team will open the ice, giving the community an opportunity to skate with the team.

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@frontiersman.com.