tease

Thursday: Bears defeat Tomahawks

The Kenai River Brown Bears defeated the Johnstown (Pennsylvania) Tomahawks 4-2 on Thursday at the North American Hockey League Showcase in Minnesota.

The Brown Bears move to 2-1-0-0, while the Tomahawks are 2-2-0-0.

Kenai River head coach Taylor Shaw said he was happy with the way his team responded to a 4-3 Wednesday loss to the Oklahoma Warriors after having a 3-0 lead after the first period.

“You don’t want to give away points like we did yesterday,” Shaw said. “For our group, I think it was good to get a taste of what that looks like early.

“I think we responded well today and were in control for the majority of the game.”

The Bears, who won the shot count 44-23, grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second period when Owen Hanson scored on an assist from Luke Hause, and Cade Baker scored short-handed on an assist from Dylan Contreras.

The Tomahawks bounced back on a power-play goal from Hayes Hundley and a goal from Will Lawrence.

With 13:01 left in the game, Rylan Yates, assisted by Andy Larson and Joe Manning, put the Bears up 3-2.

“You could hear it down the bench, they were saying, ‘We still have to finish,’” Shaw said. “It was far from over. We got an extra goal in the third period off a nice play.”

With 3:53 left, Marko Giourof, assisted by Hause, put the Bears up 4-2.

Shaw said forward Nick Stevens had a great game, playing all 200 feet of the ice while creating turnovers and drawing penalties.

Conor Sullivan made 21 saves for Kenai River, while Zack Ferris stopped 40 for Johnstown. Sullivan is 2-0-0-0.

Sullivan was 3-20-0 with a 6.70 goals-allowed average and .858 save percentage last season in the British Columbia Hockey League, but the Bears took him with their first pick in the NAHL Draft.

“He’s a kid that if you looked at his stats last year, most people would write him off,” Shaw said. “If you dig a little deeper, which is our job, you see he’s a goalie with a lot of potential in a bad fit. He was seeing 60 shots a game on average.”

The Bears take on the Odessa (Texas) Jackalopes at 1:45 p.m. AKDT Friday.

More in Sports

tease
Zombie Run results posted

The Tsalteshi Trails Association put on the 2024 Zombie Run on Sunday,… Continue reading

tease
Soldotna captures Top Dog tourney

The Soldotna boys wrestling team won the Top Dog tournament at Nikiski… Continue reading

tease
Kenai Central leads area by finishing 4th at Dimond-Service

The Kenai Central volleyball team led the area by finishing fourth at… Continue reading

tease
Division III all-state football announced

The Division III football all-state team was announced late last week. Division… Continue reading

Soldotna celebrates with the trophy Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at the First National Bowl Division II title game at Pride Field at Colony High School in Palmer, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna topples Lathrop for 14th state title

Soldotna won the 14th state title in school history with a 49-28… Continue reading

Joseph Yoon of the Kenai River Brown Bears brings the puck up the ice Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Brown Bears earn split with Ice Dogs thanks to Saturday OT victory

The Kenai River Brown Bears and Fairbanks Ice Dogs split a North… Continue reading

tease
Seward volleyball sweeps Homer

The host Seward volleyball team swept Homer on Thursday night in Southcentral… Continue reading

Allie Ostrander is presented her award by Stacia Rustad at the Alaska High School Hall of Fame's Class of 2023 induction ceremony on Sunday, May 7, 2023, at The Lakefront Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska. (Screenshot)
Ostrander finishes 15th in Golden Trail World Series

Allie Ostrander, a 2015 graduate of Kenai Central, finished 15th in the… Continue reading

tease
Prep wrestling season gets rolling on Kenai Peninsula

The prep wrestling season on the Kenai Peninsula started Saturday with the… Continue reading

Most Read