NOT IN THE KARDS

WASILLA — Kenai Central head coach Pete Iverson knows certain things are going to make a difference in the very competitive North Star Conference.

Things such as special teams.

And that’s part of the reason Iverson was happy to see his squad’s success on the power play on Saturday.

Kenai scored four power-play goals en route to a 6-4 come-from-behind win over the Colony Knights at the Curtis C. Menard II Ice Arena in Wasilla.

“The league is so tight this year,” Iverson said. “Special teams are going to play a big factor.”

Kenai scored three of its four power-play goals during the final six minutes of the second period to erase a 3-1 deficit and earn its first win of the season against one of the NSC’s three Mat-Su squads.

After Daryl Belanger and Braden Carter scored for Colony during the first four minutes of the second to give the Knights the 3-1 lead, Kenai capped the period by going 3-for-3 with the man advantage.

“Kenai has a very good power play, and they took advantage,” Colony head coach Fred McKenney said.

Sophomore Zack Zulkanycz, who factored into all three of Kenai’s second-period power-play goals, one-timed Morgan Cunningham’s centering pass at the six-minute mark to cut Colony’s advantage to 3-2.

Less than two minutes later, Zulkanycz sent a sharp pass in front of the crease to set up a Zack Meese power-play goal that tied the game at 3-3.

Zulkanycz deflected a Gradey Iverson shot from the point into the top shelf of the net with 8.8 seconds left in the frame to give the Kards the 4-3 lead.

Senior Truckee LeMay also scored twice for the Kardinals, and Cunningham added a third-period goal.

Kenai, which finished 1-2-0 during a three-game trip to the Mat-Su Valley, outshot the Knights 43-27 during the win.

“One of our goals was to increase our shooting,” Iverson said. “So the boys were able to step up and do that. It was an outstanding job.”

Kenai 6, Colony 4

Saturday, Menard Ice Arena

First period — 1. Colony- Nickerson (Carter, Moma) 3:41; 2. Kenai- LeMay (J. Iverson) pp 1:21.

Second period — 3. Colony- Belanger (Moma, Boyer) pp 13:48; 4. Colony- Carter (Belanger, Boyer) 9:09; 5. Kenai- Zulkanycz (Cunningham) pp 6:00; 6. Kenai- Morse (Zulkanycz, Cunningham) pp 4:49; 7. Kenai- Zulkanycz (G. Iverson, Morse) pp 0:08.

Third period — 8. Kenai- Cunningham (unassisted) 14:19; 9. Colony- Belanger (Cline, Conrad) 13:52; 10. Kenai- LeMay (Palchikoff) 2:52.

Shots on goal: Kenai 11-18-14—43, Colony 5-8-14—27; Saves: Kenai- Dougherty 4-6-13—23, Colony- Murak 10-15-x—25, Savel x-x-12—12.

Stars, Knights tie

WASILLA — Colony senior Trevor Nickerson scored with 1:50 left in regulation to force a 1-1 tie with Soldotna.

Kerkvliet scored early in the game to give Soldotna the lead in a contest that featured a combined 81 shots.

“Those are huge numbers in a high school hockey game,” said Swanson, who watched his team outshoot the Knights 45-36. “It was one of those games that could have gone either way.”