A sloppy loss Friday gave the Kenai River Brown Bears consecutive defeats for the first time this season.
It didn’t take long to nix the streak.
Kenai River responded from a 6-4 loss to the Alaska Avalanche of Palmer on Friday in front of 785 fans at the Soldotna Sports Center with a 3-2 win Saturday before 924, maintaining pace in the race for first place in the North American Hockey League West Division.
The Avs hold the top spot with an overall record of 18-9-1, good for 37 points. The Fairbanks Ice Dogs are second at 14-5-6 with 34 points. The Bears, meanwhile, are third at 16-7-1 and 33 points.
Not only did the win help the Bears in the standings, but they showed some resiliency, something to which co-captain Dominic Granato spoke following Friday’s defeat.
“I think our team is pretty good at fighting back and not giving up,” Granato said. “I think we’ll be pretty resilient and come back tomorrow pretty strong.”
That they did.
A night after allowing a season-high six goals in a loss that left them in third place after holding first for the better part of the month, the Bears kept the Avs quiet Saturday behind the goaltending of rookie Austin Severson.
Severson earned his 10th win of the season in making 23 saves on 25 shots and made a 3-1 lead stand up. The Bears built a two-goal edge heading into the final period on goals from Raymond Stenehjem, Kellen Wasell and captain Brett Lubanski.
The Avs cut the lead to 3-2 less than seven minutes into the third frame but never found the equalizer. Kenai River killed three power plays in the final frame.
“It was a good night,” Bears coach Oliver David said. “We were very good — excellent at times — and were kind of firing on all cylinders.”
Friday’s game had a far different feel as Kenai River yielded six goals for the first time, suffering from shaky play on the back line.
“We were just breaking down defensively, we weren’t picking up guys, a lot of miscommunication, guys weren’t talking out there on the ice,” said Kenai River assistant Kyle Bailey, speaking for David, who was unavailable for comment. “A lot of guys getting lose, guys finding open areas with our guys not keeping their head on a swivel.”
Alaska’s Jeff Bergh was the biggest benefactor of those miscues, tallying a hat trick. Bergh scored twice in the opening period and again in the third. His final score made it 5-2, a lead the Avs never relinquished.
Kenai River goaltender Paul Bourbeau was under fire all night, making 28 saves on 34 shots. Bailey said the goalie played well, much better than the numbers indicated.
“Bourbeau played an unbelievable game, he kept us in that game the whole way through,” Bailey said. “We just didn’t help him out. We just couldn’t do anything to help him out.”
The Bears faced an uphill climb all evening.
Bergh gave the Avs a 1-0 lead midway through the first period when the puck skipped to him on a faceoff and he squeezed a shot past Bourbeau from the left side. Wehebe Darge earned the assist.
Bergh then made it 2-0 with 6:08 to play in the opening frame after the puck came his way during a scramble in the zone. He gained possession off a pass from Codey Hansen and lit the lamp with a right-handed shot.
The Bears cut the lead in half when Bobby Murphy buried a rebound off assists from Lubanski and Alex Frere at the 2:55 mark.
The teams exchanged goals in a 30-second window during the second, with Alaska grabbing a 3-1 lead on a Mitch Kontny goal with 8:16 to go before Kenai River answered 27 seconds later thanks to Miikael Arkimo, who finished assists from Matt Thompson and Austin Sture.
However, Alaska scored three straight, building an insurmountable lead.
Brandon Brossoit gave the Avs a two-goal advantage late in the second, finishing a bang-bang play on assists from Connor Wright and Kevin Novakovich.
Bergh completed his hat trick with a goal on the power play with about 16 minutes to play in the third, finishing assists from Brossoit and Christianson, and Wright put the Bears away with a goal just inside the 10-minute mark.
Nick O’Donnell and Lubanski goals made it respectable later in the period, but the damage had been done.
“For as bad as we played in that game, to come away with a 6-4 loss is a good sign,” Bailey said. “The guys clawed back and got back into the game.”
Friday
Avalanche 6, Brown Bears 4
Alaska222—6
Kenai River112—4
First period — 1. Alaska, Bergh (Darge), 9:59; 2. Alaska, Bergh (Hansen), 13:52; 3. Kenai River, Murphy (Frere), 17:05. Penalties — Alaska none; Kenai River 1 for 2:00.
Second period — 4. Alaska, Kontny (Christianson, Kessler), 11:44; 5. Kenai River, Arkimo (Thompson, Sture); 6. Alaska, Brandon Brossoit (Wright, Novakovich), 18:47. Penalties — Alaska 1 for 2:00; Kenai River 2 for 4:00.
Third period — 7. Alaska, Bergh (Brossoit, Christianson), pp, 3:06; 8. Alaska, Wright (Schmitz, Hansen), 10:11; 9. Kenai River, O’Donnell (Ramsey, Granato), 11:48; 10. Kenai River, Lubanski (Murphy), pp, 13:43; 11. Penalties — Alaska 2 for 4:00; Kenai River 1 for 2:00.
Penalties — Alaska 3 for 6:00; Kenai River 4 for 8:00.
Shots on goal — Alaska (13-13-8—34); Kenai River (13-6-14—33).
Goalies — Alaska, Engum (33 shots, 29 saves); Kenai River, Bourbeau (34 shots, 28 saves).
Power plays — Alaska 1 for 3; Kenai River 1 for 2.
Saturday
Brown Bears 3, Avalanche 2
Alaska011—2
Kenai River120—3
First period — 1. Kenai River, Stenehjem (Ramsey, Lazzaro), 11:31. Penalties — Alaska 2 for 4:00; Kenai River none.
Second period — 2. Kenai River, Wasell (Nuth, Ramsey), 6:36; 3. Alaska, Christianson (Kontny), 7:52; 4. Kenai River, Lubanski (Arkimo, Frere), pp, 14:41. Penalties — Alaska 3 for 6:00; Kenai River 1 for 2:00.
Third period — 5. Alaska, Novakovich (Christianson, Kessler), pp, 6:34. Penalties — Alaska 1 for 2:00; Kenai River 3 for 6:00.
Penalties — Alaska 6 for 12:00; Kenai River 4 for 8:00.
Shots on goal — Alaska (9-6-10—25); Kenai River (12-21-5—38).
Goalies — Alaska, Kulmanovsky (38 shots, 35 saves); Kenai River, Severson (25 shots, 23 saves).
Power plays — Alaska 1 for 4; Kenai River 1 for 6.
