Offensive surge propels Avs past Brown Bears

SOLDOTNA — After getting a brief third-period scare, the Alaska Avalanche treated themselves to a festive 7-4 win over the Kenai River Brown Bears on Halloween night at the Soldotna Sports Center.

Kyle Pichler and newly-acquired Nardo Nagtzaam each scored twice for the Avs, which exploded for four third period goals after the Brown Bears had tied the game at 3-3 early in the period.

“We got scoring from all four lines tonight,” Avs coach Dave Boitz said. “When you get it from everywhere, that’s a big deal.”

The win was the third in a row and seventh in nine games this season for the Avalanche, a team that won just 16 games during a miserable 2007-08 campaign.

One of just a handful of players remaining from that squad, Pichler said the difference between last year and now is depth.

“This year the kids mesh a lot better on the team, and everyone contributes,” said the former South Anchorage standout. “We know we can rely on any line at any time to get a goal.”

Justin Giles, Adam Friese and Logan Rounds also scored goals for the Avalanche. Rounds struck with 16:14 left in the third to notch the game-winner.

Goalie Austin Maginnis stopped 31 of 35 shots to pick up his fifth win of the season.

“He was solid out there,” Boitz said of Maginnis, whose only mistakes came with at least one of his teammates in the penalty box.

Alaska committed 11 penalties in the game — leading to three power-play goals — and Boitz said his team needs to be more disciplined on the ice in order to continue their winning ways.

“We’ve got some work to do in that area,” he said. “You’ve gotta learn to stay out of the box in key situations.”

Both Maginnis and Kenai River goalie Jimmy Hamby were sharp in the opening frame, with each netminder turning back 12 shots to leave things scoreless after one. Both goalies had memorable breakaway stops in the period, with Hamby stoning Adam Friese and Maginnis denying Ryan Lemke with a flashy pad save.

The Avalanche drew first blood in the second period when Robb Haider slid a nifty pass from behind the net to Pichler in front, who easily beat an out-of-position Hamby. Less than three minutes later, Nagtzaam picked up his first career North American Hockey League goal when Zach Smith snuck a pass through two defenders to free him up in front of the net.

Boitz said Nagtzaam, who hails from the Netherlands, is likely to bring even more scoring punch to an already explosive offense that’s averaging more than four goals per game this season.

“He shoots the puck well, he’s a great skater, he’s something else,” Boitz said of Alaska’s Flying Dutchman.

Kenai picked up two power play goals in the second period, getting man-advantage scores from Robbie Michalka and Ryan Goodmanson. But the Avs held the lead heading into the third thanks to Pichler’s second tally of the period. Both of Pichler’s goals were set up by Haider, a former South Anchorage teammate, who also got into the game’s lone scrap when he and Keegan Kiel dropped the gloves for a rather uneventful tussle midway through the period.

Kenai’s Ryan Lemke gave the home crowd something to cheer about early in the third when he put in a third-chance rebound to even the score at 3- with the Brown Bears on the power play.

After that it was all Avalanche.

Nagtzaam gave Alaska the lead for good with a power-play strike from the point with 16:24 left in the game, and Rounds followed that up with his game-winner just 10 seconds later off a pass from Giles.

Giles pushed the lead to 6-3 later in the period when he converted a 3-on-1 opportunity by faking the pass and taking the puck in himself for an unassisted goal.

Lemke picked up his second goal of the night with five minutes to play with the teams skating 4-on-4, but that was as close as Kenai River would get. Friese added an empty-netter with 2:37 remaining to seal the deal.

After taking part in a loud locker room celebration following the game, Pichler said he and his Avalanche teammates are enjoying themselves a lot more than they did a year ago.

“It’s a way different feeling,” he said. “Last year kind of sucked. Hopefully we can keep it going, because it’s a lot of fun this year.”

Alaska and Kenai River skated in the second game of the series on Saturday night. Results were unavailable prior to press time.

Matt Tunseth is a freelance writer who lives in Kenai. Contact him at mutto@hotmail.com

AVALANCHE 7, BROWN BEARS 4

Friday, Soldotna Sports Center

Alaska 0 3 4 — 7

Kenai River 0 2 2 — 4

First period – none.

Second period – 1. Alaska- Pichler (Haider, Currier), 4:56; 2. Alaska- Nagtzaam (Smith, Cohen), 7:46; 3. Kenai- Michalka (Musselman), 13:25, pp; 4. Alaska- Pichler (Haider), 17:10; 5. Kenai- Goodmanson (Lemke), 19:56, pp.

Third period – 6. Kenai- Lemke (Poganski, Simson), :21, pp; 7. Nagtzaam (Kinnebrew, Smith), 3:36, pp; 8. Alaska- Rounds (Giles, Kimbro), 3:47; 9. Giles (un), 8:40; 10. Kenai- Lemke (Goodmanson, Gawron), 14:59; 11. Alaska- A. Friese (un), 17:23, empty net.

Shots: Alaska – 12-14-12 – 38. Kenai River – 12-13-10 – 35.

Saves: Alaska- Maginnis 12-11-8 – 31. Kenai River- Hamby 12-11-8 – 31.

Penalties: Alaska 11 for 25 minutes, Kenai River 11 for 33 minutes.

Power plays: Alaska 1-for-8, Kenai River 3-for-7.