Teams use power play to get past Avs in showcase

BLAINE, Minn. — When his squad is skating even strength, Alaska Avalanche head coach Brian Huebel believes he has one of the top teams in the North American Hockey League. But the Avs have had their fair share of early season struggles while skating shorthanded.

Alaska allowed a pair of power-play goals during back-to-back losses to close the North American Hockey League Showcase in Blaine, Minn., over the weekend.

Traverse City scored a pair with the advantage during a 5-2 win over the Avs on Saturday. Topeka used the power play to grab both of its goals during a 2-1 on Friday. Throw in Alaska’s 3-2 loss to Janesville, and the Avs’ opponents combined for 26 power-play chances in three games.

Alaska dropped to 2-4 with the losses, but Huebel said he knows that mark is deceiving.

“When we decide to play we’re not a 2-4 hockey team,” Huebel said.

Alaska opened the tournament with an 8-5 win over Aberdeen on Wednesday, with scoring from six different players. But the Avs followed with a pair of one-goal losses and the 5-2 defeat on Saturday.

Huebel said the Avs were dealt with a solid group of teams to play during the showcase. On paper, Huebel said, Topeka, Traverse City and Janesville are top teams in their respective divisions. Topeka could be one of the top teams in the NAHL.

“I was looking forward to it, playing the tough teams,” Huebel said. “We’re in a division that will once again probably be the toughest division in the NAHL top to bottom. I think we learned a lot.”

Defenseman Tyler Briola and forward Seth Johnson scored in the second period to tie the score at 2 for the Avs on Saturday. Johnson’s goal, a shorthanded tally, came 56 seconds after Briola put his team on the scoreboard.

Huebel said, with Traverse City set up in the umbrella on the power play, Johnson challenged the top man.

“He had a real active stick and took out their shot lane,” Huebel said. “He was fortunate enough to block the shot and the puck bounced out. He was able to win the race to the puck and put a shot off the near post.”

But after that shorthanded tally, Traverse City scored the first of its two power-play goals just 37 seconds later.

“That really hurt us, especially in that situation when we had some momentum,” Huebel said.

Former West Anchorage standout Blake Mendenhall made his first start in the Avalanche net and recorded 30 saves.

Second-year forward Jake Barber scored the Avs’ lone goal during the loss to Topeka. Alaska goalie Landon Peterson made 27 saves and did not allow an even strength score.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Traverse City 5, Alaska 2

Satuday, NAHL Showcase

Alaska 0-2-0—2

Traverse City 1-3-1—5

First period — 1. Traverse City- Snider (Leibinger, Fragoso) 11:42.

Second period — 2. Traverse City- Shields (Campbell, Amin) 5:16; 3. Alaska- Briola (Williams, Pearson) 10:25; 4. Alaska- Johnson (unassisted) sh 11:21; 5. Traverse City- Amin (Behm, White) pp 11:58; 6. Traverse City- Burden (White, Shields) pp 13:59.

Third period — 7. Traverse City- Amin (Behm, White) en 18:54.

Shots on goal: Alaska 3-11-7—21, Traverse City 14-14-7—35; Saves: Alaska- Mendenhall 13-11-6—30, Traverse City- Marbie 3-9-7—19; Power plays: Alaska 0-for-3, Traverse City 2-or-8; Penalties: Alaska 12-for-24, Traverse City 7-for-14.

Topeka 2, Alaska 1

Friday, NAHL Showcase

Topeka 1-0-1—2

Alaska 0-1-1—1

First period — 1. Topeka- Ramsey (Marx, Milam) pp 7:41.

Second period — 2. Alaska- Barber (Johnson, Schmitz) pp 12:30.

Third period — 3. Topeka- Hussar (Schrotenboer, Hill) pp 10:47.

Shot on goal: Topeka 16-6-7—29; Alaska 6-8-6—20; Saves: Topeka- Rohrkemper 6-7-6—19, Alaska- Peterson 15-6-6—27; Power plays: Topeka 2-for-9, Alaska 1-for-7; Penalties: Topeka 10-for-20, Alaska 12-for-24.

Janesville 3, Alaska 2

Thursday, NAHL Showcase

Janesville 0-1-2—3

Alaska 1-1-0—2

First period — 1. Alaska- Pearson (Doig, Smith) 10:05.

Second period — 2. Janesville- McGilvrey (Childs) 3:15; 3. Alaska- Darge (Huppert, Whitehill) pp 8:38.

Third period — 4. Janesville- L. Jacobson (De. Jacobson) 4:03; 5. Janesville- McBride (unassisted) 14:14.

Shots on goal: Janesville 13-16-14—43, Alaska 13-10-7—30; Saves: Janesville- Da. Jacobson 12-9-7—28, Alaska- Peterson 13-15-12—40; Power plays: Janesville 0-for-9, Alaska 1-for-4; Penalties: Janesville 5-for-10, Alaska 10-for-20.

Alaska 8, Aberdeen 5

Wednesday, NAHL Showcase

Alaska 2-2-4—8

Aberdeen 0-2-3—5

First period — 1. Alaska- Whitehill (Van Allen) 4:02; 2. Alaska- Pearson (Darge, Smith) 19:10.

Second period — 3. Alaska- Johnson (Barber) 1:28; 4. Aberdeen- Marooney (Pino) 1:49; 5. Alaska- Huppert (Pearson, Smith) 4:30; 6. Aberdeen- Tuscher (Sanford, Ginand) 17:56.

Third period — 7. Alaska- Smith (Huppert) 0:40; 8. Alaska- Johnson (Barber, Whitehill) 5:22; 9. Alaska- Schmitz (Darge, Hesse) 6:50; 10. Alaska- Nelson (Borer) 11:32; 11. Aberdeen- Wagner (Platt, Poulsen) 14:19; 12. Aberdeen- Pino (Ward) 16:41; 13. Aberdeen- Ginand (Mikulan) 19:49.

Shots on goal: Alaska 13-13-6—32, Aberdeen 8-8-16—32; Saves: Alaska- Peterson 8-6-13—28, Aberdeen- Lelsner 11-11-2—24; Power plays: Alaska 0-for-0, Aberdeen 0-for-2; Penalties: Alaska 5-for-10, Aberdeen 3-for-6.