The Kenai River Brown Bears return home in a best-of-five Midwest Division semifinal down 2-0 to the Minnesota Wilderness.
Even though the Wilderness are the No. 2 seed and the Bears are the No. 3 seed, all of the remaining games in the series will be played at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. That’s because the series relocated to Alaska in order to make sure the Bears got at least one home playoff game.
Game 3 is tonight at 7:30 p.m. If necessary, Game 4 is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Game 5 is Sunday at 5 p.m.
The Brown Bears have eight playoff berths in the franchise’s 16 seasons, but today will play the first home playoff game since 2014.
“We’ve sold a bunch of tickets so far,” Kenai River head coach Taylor Shaw said. “A bunch of people have reached out to say they are excited to see the Brown Bears at home in a playoff game.
“We certainly expect a packed house Friday.”
The Wilderness won Game 1 on April 21 3-1 — getting a late empty-net goal — then won Game 2 on April 22 2-1.
Special teams were the difference in both games. In both Games 1 and 2, Minnesota was 1 for 4 on the power play, while the Bears were 0 for 2.
Reid Daavettila had both of those power-play strikes for the Wilderness. Kevin Marx Noren also has two goals in the series, though one was the empty-netter.
“They were two close games,” Shaw said. “They could have went either way based on how tight they were.
“We’re looking at it more like it’s an opportunity to play three more games in front of our fans. We need to start with a good one on Friday and take it from there.”
The Wilderness allowed the fewest goals in the division this season and thus far Kenai River has been unable to break through against Minnesota’s defensive brand.
The teams have played seven times this season and the Bears have won once — a 1-0 victory in a shootout. Isak Posch has been the Wilderness goalie in all seven of those games and allowed more than a goal only once.
“They’re pretty systematically sound,” Shaw said. “They don’t give up a ton of chances and play pretty tight defense.
“We’re hoping to use the big sheet to our advantage. We’ve been fortunate to play plenty of home games and we know the little nuances on the big sheet.”
In addition to those little nuances, Shaw is hoping the team finds that little bit extra playing in front of a huge crowd.
“That doesn’t mean we have to change what we do,” Shaw said. “Our guys work hard. Is there that 1 percent more left in there that can put us over the edge? That’s what we’ve been talking about.”
Shaw said the Bears have been resilient all season. He said the team did a good job getting back to work in a Monday practice in Minnesota before returning to Alaska on Tuesday.
“Friday can’t come quick enough for our group,” Shaw said.
