Wild time in Wasilla

WASILLA — The Alaska Avalanche went down 2-1 Thursday to the Wild of Wenatchee, Wash.

The hometown team played well, but Avs Head Coach David Boitz credited the Wild’s goalie, Mathieu Dugas, with the win.

“Their goalie played great,” Boitz said.

He said his team was complacent in the early periods and didn’t spend enough time in Wild territory taking the kind of shots they needed to take.

“Third period we did, but the goalie hung in there and played tough,” Boitz said.

The game started out slow with both teams trying to draw first blood.

And, with 10:05 left in the first period, the first goal went to the Wild. Wenatchee’s Duncan McKellar dumped the puck into the Avalanche net unassisted.

With 3:24 left on the clock in the first period, Avalanche forward Nardo Nagtzaam took a hard hit and stayed on the ice until the ref called time. It would not be the hardest hit of the game.

The Avs went into the break a man down with Dylan Jones serving out the balance of a two-minute penalty for hooking he incurred with just 20 seconds left as the first period ended.

Despite being a man down, the Avs came out swinging in the second, charging hard into Wild territory. They crashed the puck into the net after just 40 seconds of play. Kyle Pitcher took the honors for the score.

But the Wild didn’t let that score go unanswered.

At the period’s halfway mark, Avalanche defenseman Logan Maly was sent to the penalty box for slashing, putting the Wild on a power play.

Just when the Avs were back up to full strength, with 9:17 on the clock, Billy Miller whizzed the puck past Avs goalie Austin Maginnis, hitting nothing but net. That would be the end of scoring for the night, but not the end of the show.

With 12:49 to go in the third, Avs forward Dylan Jones took a vicious hit to the face from the Wild’s Beau Burgau. Jones seemed stunned, losing his balance as he tried to stand, and eventually hobbled back to the bench.

As the refs sorted out the penalties, a pair of Avalanche players scoured the ice for Jones’ tooth, which they eventually found handed back to him.

The offense garnered Burgau a four-minute stay in the penalty box, the longest of the game.

Despite numerous well-assisted slapshots, the Avs were unable to capitalize on the power play. With less than a minute on the clock, Wild center Junior Caiz earned a two-minute penalty for slashing and the Avs pulled their goalie.

The Avs 6-3 advantage wasn’t in force for long when a fight broke out in the Wild’s crease and the resulting penalties reduced the Avs’ strength by one.

The fight was just one of many minor skirmishes in the night. Asked at if the game had been rougher than normal, Boitz said no.

“I actually didn’t think we played physical enough,” he said.

Asked if any of the hard shots his players took would have them looking for revenge when the Avalanche face the Wild again tonight at 8 p.m., Boitz said his team just needs to win the game.

“We got to score more goals. That’s all there is to it,” Boitz said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.