Moose surge in opener

PALMER — Last season, Jacob Inukai skated into the Palmer Moose program as a promising young forward.

On Tuesday, Inukai took his game to another level.

The sophomore scored four times to lead the Moose to a 7-2 nonconference win over the West Anchorage Eagles at the MTA Events Center in Palmer.

“It’s a year’s worth of work, really getting after it, paying off,” Palmer head coach Brad Hanson said of Inukai. “He worked hard in the offseason, went Outside a couple weeks for a camp and has been playing (for the U16AAA Alaska All-Stars).”

Inukai scored late in the first period and added a natural hat trick in the second. His three consecutive second-period goals gave the Moose the 6-0 lead.

Inukai tallied a pair of shorthanded goals within an 11-second span in the second period.

“We were forechecking hard, putting pressure on the defense,” Hanson said.

Inukai and the Moose cashed in after West turnovers on both shorthanded goals. More than half of Palmer’s seven scores came after West turnovers.

Late in the first period, defenseman Brennan Harrison swiped a puck from the Eagles to help set up a Palmer 2-on-1. Senior captain Ivan Good led the odd-man rush, and fed Inukai with the puck. Inukai scored to give the Moose the 2-0 lead.

Good factored in on Palmer’s first three scores. He scored a wrap-around to give Palmer the 1-0 lead, and assisted on the next two. Good helped set up Blake Brazil’s power-play goal in the third.

Miles George also scored for the Moose in the win. Dalton Buness and Jack Reeves each collected a team-high three assists in the win. Harrison and Good each added a pair of helpers.

Sophomore goalie Ashton Good recorded 23 saves in the Moose net.

Palmer 7, West Anchorage 2

Tuesday, MTA Events Center

First per iod — 1. Palmer- I. Good (Buness, Harrison) 6:23; 2. Palmer- Inukai (I. Good, Harrison) 3:11.

Second period — 3. Palmer- Brazil (I. Good, Reeves) pp 11:33; 4. Palmer- Inukai (Morino, Buness) 9:36; 5. Palmer- Inukai (Reeves, Morino) sh 5:47; 6. Palmer- Inukai (Buness) sh 5:36; 7. West- Bateman (Ellingworth, Hiel) 4:55; 8. Palmer- George (Reeves, Brazil) 0:28.

Third period — 9. West- Osgood (Bateman, Turchaninov) pp 1:06.

Shots on goal: West 9-6-10—25, Palmer 12-17-5—34; Saves: West- Dahl 10-12-5—27, Palmer- Good 9-5-9—23; Penalties: West 7 for 14, Palmer 12 for 24.

Warriors beat Wolves

EAGLE RIVER — Tegan Harrington scored twice and Wasilla posted a pair of power-play goals during a 5-1 win over Eagle River in the season-opener for both teams at the MacDonald Center in Eagle River on Tuesday.

Wasilla scored five unanswered goals in the win, after Eagle River took an early 1-0 lead with a Wyatt Beebe score.

Adam Apangolook, Colton Fletcher and Cooper Hanson also scored in the win.

Hanson found the back of the net with 90 seconds to go in the first to tie the score at 1. Apangolook notched the eventual game-winner with a score, at the 7:32 mark of the second.

Fletcher and Harrington both scored with the advantage for Wasilla. Zach Eastham earned the win in the WHS net.

Wasilla 5, Eagle River 1

Tuesday, MacDonald Center, Eagle River

First period — 1. Eagle River- Beebe (Gally) 9:31; 2. Wasilla- Co. Hanson (Harren) 1:31.

Second period — 3. Wasilla- Apangolook (Sturdevant, Harren) 7:32; 4. Wasilla- Fletcher (Cooley, Ch. Hanson) pp 5:26.

Third period — 5. Wasilla- Harrington (Carricaburu, Hansen) pp 10:56; 6. Wasilla- Harrington (Apangolook, Trush) 2:10.

Shots on goal: Wasilla 12-10-10—32, Eagle River 3-4-1—8; Saves: Wasilla- Eastham 2-4-1—7, Eagle River- NA 11-8-8—27; Penalties: Wasilla 5 for 10, Eagle River 3 for 6.

Knights blank Bartlett

WASILLA — Forest Savel made 24 saves to earn the shutout and lead the Colony Knights to a 4-0 win over the Bartlett Golden Bears at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena on Tuesday.

Morgan McJimsey, Alex Svoboda, Trevor Naylor and Kevin Hartley all scored for Colony. McJimsey also recorded an assist.

Colony 4, Bartlett 0

Tuesday, Menard

First period — 1. Colony- McJimsey (Kempinski) 14:13.

Second period — 2. Colony- Svoboda (Hartley) 13:10; 3. Colony- Naylor (Foster) 3:15.

Third period — 4. Colony- Hartley (McJimsey) 4:11.

Shots on goal: Bartlett 6-9-9—24, Colony 12-13-11—36; Saves: Bartlett- Dryskel 11-12-10—32, Colony- Savel 6-9-9—24; Penalties: Bartlett 2 for 4, Colony 4 for 8.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.