Wild weekend

WASILLA — The Alaska Avalanche can’t be wild about Wenatchee’s first trip to the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena.

Actually, other than their 5-2 win over their first-year foes on Friday, it’s a series the Avs would probably just assume forget.

The North American Hockey League West Division expansion Wild used an ugly 6-1 win on Saturday to win the series and keep the Avs from closing the gap in the West Division standings.

First-place Fairbanks also won on Friday and now owns a seven-point lead over the second-place Avs.

“We’re having some consistency problems right now,” Alaska head coach Dave Boitz said after the loss.

Wenatchee scored three times in the first period, setting up a contest that only could be described as frustrating for the Wasilla-based squad. The frustration started in the first as the teams combined for 22 minutes worth of penalties and peaked in the second 42 minutes worth of calls.

Wenatchee built a 5-0 lead through the first two periods, and Wild goalie Mathieu Dugas kept the Avs scoreless until the final seconds of regulation.

Alaska forward Zach Smith squashed Dugas’ shot and the shutout when he knocked in the rebound of a Logan Rounds attempt with 16 seconds left in the game.

Jack Nicoll, Michael Voran and Junior Cadiz scored in the first to give the Wild the early lead.

And in the second, Wenatchee continued to catch its breaks.

Jake Flynn gave the Wild the 4-0 lead with a controversial goal midway through the second. After Alaska goalie Dylan Woodring stopped a Duncan McKellar shot, it looked like play would be whistled dead. But before the whistle blew, players collided into Woodring and the puck slid across the red line.

Wenatchee used a 5-on-3 opportunity and a Nick Dowd power play goal to knock the fifth puck past Woodring, who was making his debut with the Avs after a recent trade with Alexandria.

Dowd scored again in the third when he beat Alaska netminder Austin Maginnis, who played the final 20 minutes in replace of Woodring.

On Friday, the top line provided the offensive spark as Kyle Pichler and Tyler Currier combined for eight points to lead the Avs to a 5-2 win over Wenatchee.

Both veterans collected two goals and two assists in the win. Pichler, who scored Alaska’s lone goal in a 2-1 loss to the Wild on Thursday, posted a pair of first-period goals to give the Avs the early 2-0 lead.

The Avs took the 1-0 lead when Pichler scored on the power play just 2:52 into regulation. Pichler added his second goal midway through the first.

Michael Voran and Duncan McKellar scored in the second period for the Wild to bring the Washington-based team to within a goal of the Avalanche. But with 1:40 left in the second, Nardo Nagtzaam scored for the third time this season to give the Avs a two-goal cushion.

Currier iced the game with his second goal of the game in the third period. The Anchorage native also scored midway through the second. Alaska outshot the Wild 14-6 in the first period and 43-32 in the game. Austin Maginnis made 30 stops for the Avs to improve to 7-4-0 this season.

The Wild return to Washington to host the Avalanche next week. Alaska’s three-game series at Wenatchee starts Friday at 4:05 p.m. AST. The series, which continues on Saturday and Sunday, marks just the second trip outside of Alaska for the Avs. Alaska continues a five-game stretch away from home with a two-game series at Fairbanks in early December. The series will mark the first meeting of the season between the Avs and the West Division-leading Ice Dogs.

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

First period — 1. Wenatchee- Nicoll (McKellar) 12:17, 2. Wenatchee- Voran

(Dowd, Vandercook) pp 16:10, 3. Wenatchee- Cadiz (Bruneteau) sh 19:41.

Second period — 4. Wenatchee- Flynn (McKellar, Nicoll) 14:09, 5.

Wenatchee- Dowd (McKellar, Burrell) pp 19:54.

Third period — 6. Wenatchee- Dowd (Vandercook, Voran) 1:02, 7. Alaska-

Smith (Rounds, Kowal) 19:44.

Shots on goal: Wenatchee 17-22-7˜46, Alaska 10-14-15˜39, Saves: Wenatchee-

Dugas 10-14-14˜38, Alaska- Woodring 14-20-x˜34, Maginnis x-x-6˜6; Power

plays: Wenatchee 2-for-5, Alaska 0-for-6; Penalties: Wenatchee 12-for-30;

Alaska 12-for-38.

Alaska 5, Wenatchee 2

Friday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Alaska- Pichler (Currier, Cohen) pp 2:52, 2. Alaska-

Pichler (Currier) 10:02.

Second period — 3. Wenatchee- Voran (Smoot) 8:05; 4. Alaska- Currier

(Pichler, Cohen) 9:00; 5. Wenatchee- McKellar (Dowd, Voran) pp 15:32;

6. Alaska- Nagtzaam (Baldwin, Haider) 18:20.

Third period — 7. Alaska- Currier (Cohen, Pichler) 3:40.

Shots on goal: Wenatchee 6-14-12˜32, Alaska 14-20-9˜43; Saves:

Wenatchee- Dugas 12-18-8˜38, Alaska- Maginnis 6-12-12˜30; Power plays:

Wenatchee 1-for-5, Alaska 1-for-4; Penalties: Wenatchee 6-for-12,

Alaska 8-for-24; Attendance: 983.