Spirit notch OT win

DARRELL L. BREESE/ Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - The Wasilla Police Department was on hand for Saturday's showdown between the Wasilla Spirit and the Fairbanks Ice Dogs at the Curtis C. Menard II Arena, thankfully for Steve Murphy they weren't there for him.

The former Dimond High standout center committed to counts of larceny for the Spirit Saturday leading to a pair of goals, including the game winner in overtime. His second tally gave the Spirit Junior A hockey team a 2-1 win.

&#8221It was just a case of being in the right place at the right time, twice,“ Murphy said of his interceptions. &#8221I was just pressuring the pass and it wound up on me stick. I happy I was able to convert both times, that's the big deal.“

Nothing of note happened during the scoreless first period other than both teams combining for a total of 10 shots, thanks to a generous score keeper.

Things turned around in the final moments of the middle period. Fairbanks defenseman Nick VanBokern fired a long two-line pass to forward Matthias Iberer who skated in to break the scoreless tie with a power-play goal giving the Ice Dogs a 1-0 lead.

Murphy then showed his deviant side in the early minutes of the third, intercepting an attempted Fairbanks clearing pass at the blue line. After settling the puck he lifted a wrist shot beyond the reach of Ice Dog's goalie Bryce Christianson to tie the score.

After Spirit goalie Jerry Kuhn turned away the relentless attack of Fairbanks in the remainder of the period, stopping 14 shots, the two teams found themselves facing overtime.

Murphy picked the pocket of the Ice Dogs again in the final minute of overtime, intercepting another pass and firing a blast past Christianson for the game winner.

His two goals moved Murphy past David Gault for the teams lead with five on the season.

Saturday's victory also marked the second straight weekend that the Spirit and Ice Dogs have split a weekend series, leveling their head-to-head record at 2-2. Wasilla climbed one game above .500 with the win, improving their record to 5-4. Fairbanks fell to 5-2-2 with the loss.

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or darrell.breese@

frontiersman.com.