Palmer prevails

PALMER — Despite dominating the Kenai Central Kardinals for the first two periods of play Thursday night, the Palmer Moose found themselves in a 1-1 game and on the wrong end of a momentum swing.

Instead of hanging their heads, Palmer charged out of the locker room, going ahead just 15 seconds into the third period on their way to an eventual 4-2 North Star Conference win at the Palmer Ice Arena.

“I really loved the way they came out in the third period,” Palmer coach Brad Hanson said following the game.

The Moose could have just as easily collapsed. Palmer outshot Kenai by a 28-10 margin in the opening two periods and took a 1-0 lead on Zack Richards’ goal midway into the second. But the Kardinals tied things up as the second came to a close when Zach Sonnichsen stole the puck and beat Palmer goalie Jonas Naegele just as the buzzer sounded.

The Moose didn’t quit, getting the go-ahead goal 15 seconds into the third when C.J. Watson scored off a face-off in the Kenai zone. Just more than five minutes later, Richards got his second tally of the night, holding the puck until the last possible moment before ripping a wrist shot past Kenai netminder Matt Barrett.

Three minutes later, Dylan Danielowski got into the act, sneaking a wrist shot into the goal while falling down to make the score 4-1.

Kenai added a late goal by Henrik Janefeldt, but by then the damage was done. Naegele finished with 15 saves on just 17 Kenai shots, while Barrett had 42 saves on 46 shots.

The Kardinals rarely had offensive chances in the Palmer zone all night.

“I thought the defense played well, getting the puck and shutting them down,” Hanson said. “It was a good night.”

Palmer plays Homer tonight, then wraps up a three-game homestand with a Saturday night tilt against Soldotna.

Colony 16, Homer 2

PALMER — Colony senior Risto Paatsama scored six goals and picked up two assists as the Knights routed Homer 16-2 Thursday at the Palmer Ice Arena.

Paatsama scored once in the first period, three times in the second and twice more in the third. Forwards Lance Nezaticky and Chris Breck also had hat tricks for the Knights, which got goals from Blake Huppert, Trever Nickerson, Rosy Fujimoto and Kyle Miller.

Contact Frontiersman sports reporter Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com

MOOSE 4, KARDINALS 2

Palmer 0 1 3 — 4

Kenai 0 1 1 — 2

First period — none.

Second period — 1. Palmer- Richards (un), 8:43; 2. Kenai- Sonnichsen (Eubank), 0:01.

Third period — 3. Palmer- Watson (Richards), 14:45; 4. Palmer- Richards (M. Hanson, Ferguson), 9:21; 5. Palmer- Danielowski (Perkins), 6:35; 6. Kenai- Janefeldt (un), 4:31.

Shots: Palmer 11-17-18 — 46; Kenai 5-5-7 — 17. Saves: Palmer- Naegele 5-4-6 — 15; Kenai- Barrett 11-16-15 — 42. Penalties: Palmer 4 for 16 minutes; Kenai 6 for 20.

KNIGHTS 16, MARINERS 2

Colony 3 6 7 — 16

Homer 1 1 0 — 2

First period — 1. Homer- No. 8 (un), 14:12; 2. Colony- Nickerson (Krey), 6:18; 3. Colony- Paatsama (Frank), 4:37; 4. Colony- Breck (Thygeson), 1:50.

Second period — 5. Nezaticky (Huppert), 13:11; 6. Colony- Paatsama (Huppert, Nezaticky), 9:45; 7. Colony- Nezaticky (Huppert, Paatsama), 5:37; 8. Colony- Nezaticky (Huppert), 4:44; 9. Colony- Paatsama (Krey), 1:38; 10. Colony- Paatsama (Huppert, Nezaticky), 1:11; 11. Homer- No. 11 (2), :28.2

Third period — 12. Colony- Breck (Fujimoto), 12:32; 13. Colony- Paatsama (Huppert, Nezaticky), 11:32; 14. Colony- Paatsama (Huppert, Krey), 7:33; 15. Colony- Miller (Nickerson), 4:30; 16. Colony- Huppert (Krey), 4:21; 17. Colony- Breck (Paatsama, Huppert), 3:22; 18. Colony- Fujimoto (Pulczinski),

Penalties: Colony 5 for 20 minutes; Homer 7 for 24 minutes. Shots: Colony 17-9-13 — 39; Homer 3-9-2 — 14. Saves: Colony- Murak 2-8-2 — 12; Homer- 14-8-6 — 28.