HUNT FOR HOME ICE

WASILLA — Dave Boitz knew his team was in for a brutal stretch at the tail end of the regular season.

The Alaska Avalanche are battling through a six-game, eight-day homestand that ends this weekend with a two-game set against the Kenai River Brown Bears that starts tonight at 7 p.m. at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

“We’re a little beat up right now,” Boitz, Alaska’s head coach, admitted after a 6-3 loss to the Wenatchee Wild Wednesday at the Menard.

The Avs are certainly feeling the effects of playing four games in the last six nights. But Alaska is still in the hunt for home ice during the first round of the North American Hockey League playoffs, and that can certainly help dull the pains created by playing so many games in so little time.

With only the weekend remaining in the regular season, Alaska sits just a point behind rival Fairbanks in the race for home ice advantage in the first round. And to add a little bit of drama, Fairbanks also happens to be Alaska’s opponent during the first round of the playoffs.

Half of the West Division playoff slate has been set. Wenatchee (43-10-3, 89 points) locked up the West Division title weeks ago. Fourth-place Kenai River (12-38-6, 30) has spent the majority of the 2009-10 season in the West cellar. Early next month, Kenai River will make the trip to Wenatchee, Wash., for the best-of-5 series. This weekend the other piece of the West Division playoff puzzle will be put into place.

After playing the Wild on consecutive nights, the Avs suddenly become Wenatchee fans, at least temporarily. The Wild are in the Interior to play a pair against the Ice Dogs. Wenatchee has only 10 losses in 56 games this year, but Fairbanks sports a 17-8-2 record at the Big Dipper Ice Arena. If the Ice Dogs and Avs were to finish in a tie for second, Fairbanks will get the nod. The Ice Dogs hold the top two tiebreakers against the Avs.

That leaves one fairly obvious fact.

“We have to win out this weekend,” Boitz said.

On the business side of things, hosting potentially three playoff games would certainly be a nice boost to the Avalanche budget. A couple of wins over Kenai River could help make history — it could mean the Avs’ first shot at home ice in the playoffs in the organization’s five-year stay in Wasilla — and could be profitable for the franchise. But Boitz said he also has to make sure his team is healthy for the playoffs.

“It’d be great for the program to finish ahead of Fairbanks, but at the same time, I’d rather beat Fairbanks in the playoffs than finish ahead of them during the regular season,” Boitz said.

Alaska moved within a point of Fairbanks in the West standings with a 5-2 win over Wenatchee on Tuesday.

“I’m really proud of how we played on Tuesday,” Boitz said. “A lot of the battles, we won. We blocked a lot of shots and created some really good scoring chances.”

Alaska used a three-goal second period to grab the win. After forward Zach Smith sparked the Avs with a shorthanded goal early in the first, Trent Johnson, Daniel Hildebrandt and Jed McGlasson scored during the middle frame to extend Alaska’s lead to 4-1.

Wenatchee outshot Alaska 44-21 Tuesday, but the Avs capitalized on their opportunities.

“They definitely gave up some quality chances,” Boitz said. “Both nights.”

McGlasson added an empty-netter with 49 seconds left to cap the Avalanche scoring. Landon Peterson was sturdy in net, stopping 42 of the 44 shots he faced.

The win was Alaska’s fourth over Wenatchee this season, a pretty good stat considering the Wild have suffered only 10 total losses this season.

“Almost half of their losses are against us,” Boitz said.

On Wednesday, the Avs found themselves in a three-goal hole before the 17-minute mark of the first. Ryan Timar scored twice in the first to lead the Wild. Duncan McKellar added another early score.

“We started out a little tentative,” Boitz said.

Robb Haider put the Avs on the scoreboard late in the second. The Anchorage native picked up a loose puck in the offensive zone, skated in from the right circle and snuck a puck just inside the near-side post. The goal was Haider’s third in five games.

Early in the third, Berkley Scott muscled his way to the crease and knocked a rebound past Wenatchee goalie Brandon Jaeger to cut the Wild lead in half. But almost as Avs made it a 4-2 game, Wenatchee found the back of the net once again.

Alex McLean clanked a shot off the post and by Peterson just more than a minute later to give the Wild a 5- 2 advantage. Late in the game, with the goalie pulled and the Avs on the power play with a 6-on-4 advantage, Wenatchee’s Eric Johnson managed to send the puck nearly the length of the ice, into the Alaska net.

Alaska captain Logan Maly scored late for the Avs.

The Avs did cash in on opportunities both nights. Alaska scored eight goals on 39 shots.

Kenai River skates into the Menard as losers of four of its last six. Wenatchee swept the Bears in Soldotna last weekend, with wins of 5-3 and 6-1. Alaska is 14-1-1 in 16 games against Kenai River this season.

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

Alaska 5, Wenatchee 2

Tuesday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Alaska- Smith (unassisted) sh 8:41; 2. Wenatchee- Christ (Flynn, Brossolt) 17:24.

Second period — 3. Alaska- T. Johnson (Huppert) 5:17; 4. Alaska- Hildebrandt (Svoboda, Friese) 10:34; 5. Alaska- McGlasson (Svoboda, Barber) 19:34.

Third period — 6. Wenatchee- McKellar (Timar) 18:06; 7. Alaska- McGlasson (Maly) en 19:11.

Shots on goal: Wenatchee 15-10-19—44, Alaska 5-12-4—21; Saves: Wenatchee- Jensen 5-0-x—5, Jaeger x-7-4—11; Penalty minutes: Wenatchee 11-for-36, Alaska 9-for-24; Power plays: Wenatchee 0-for-6, Alaska 0-for-7.

Wenatchee 6, Alaska 3

Wednesday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Wenatchee- Timar (unassisted) 5:33; 2. Wenatchee- McKellar (Youngmun, Torrel) 14:35; 3. Wenatchee- Timar (DiPuma, Pauly) 16:20.

Second period — 4. Wenatchee- DiPuma (unassisted) pp 9:37; 5. Alaska- Haider (Pearson, Williams) 18:17.

Third period — 6. Alaska- Scott (Pichler, Williams) 5:08; 7. Wenatchee- McLean (Sliwinski) 6:29; 8. Wenatchee- Johnson (unassisted) en 18:12; 9. Alaska- Maly (Parenteau, Friese) 18:26.

Shots on goal: Wenatchee 14-15-13—42, Alaska 9-1-8—18, Saves: Wenatchee- Jaeger 9-0-6—15, Alaska- Robertson 11-x-x—11, Peterson x-14-11—25; Power plays: Wenatchee 1-for-3, Alaska 0-for-8; Penalties: Wenatchee 8-for-16, Alaska 3-for-6.