Spirit eye game three

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Frontiersman sports editor

ANCHORAGE - If playoff history repeats itself, fans in Anchorage's Subway Center will see a pair of 2-1 overtime thrillers.

Why should games three and four of the Wasilla Spirit's first-round best-of-five series with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs end up any different than games one and two.

&#8220It was an exciting weekend of hockey,” Wasilla head coach Dean Larson said after Wasilla's two-game trip to the Interior earlier this week.

With the stick of defenseman Jeff Dimmen and the glove of goaltender Andrew Volkening, Wasilla bolted to a 1-0 lead in the series with a 2-1 extra-period win over the Ice Dogs at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks last Friday.

Dimmen scored both Wasilla goals, and Volkening recorded 50 saves in the win.

The following night Fairbanks'' Mario Mjelleli scored the game-winner at the 9-minute and 56-second mark of overtime to even up the series.

Despite the loss, Larson said he felt his junior hockey club actually played better on Saturday.

&#8220On Friday we hung on a little bit,” Larson said. &#8220On Saturday we put a lot of pressure on (Fairbanks), especially in overtime. We had a bunch of grade ‘A' scoring chances. It was kind of a heartbreaker.”

Wasilla posted 37 shots on goal in the loss, versus 25 in the win. The Spirit posted eight of those shots in overtime, and kept consistent pressure on Shane Malodora.

Reed Lally scored the lone goal for Wasilla.

With the teams combining for only six goals in eight periods of hockey, goaltending has stood obviously large for both teams. Volkening turned away 50 shots in the win, and followed with a 42-save performance on Saturday. Malodora and Anchorage native Bryce Christianson have combined for 58 saves so far in the series.

Games three and four of the series are tonight and Saturday at the Subway Sports Center in South Anchorage. Each game is slated for 7:30 p.m. If the two teams leave the rink Saturday night deadlocked in a 2-2 tie, a fifth game will decide the series winner. That game would be played in Fairbanks on Sunday, if necessary.

The winner of this series moves on to face the North American Hockey League West Division champion Bozeman Ice Dogs. The best-of-seven series starts in Bozeman on April 14.