Brahmas sweep Brown Bears

  • By Staff Report
  • Friday, March 2, 2018 9:16pm
  • Sports

The visiting Kenai River Brown Bears were swept by the Lone Star (Texas) Brahmas on Friday and Saturday in North American Hockey League play.

The Bears lost 3-1 on Friday and 5-0 on Saturday.

Kenai River ended its last home stand by winning three straight games, but lost all four games on this road trip.

The Bears return home for their final five home games of the season at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. That series starts Friday and Saturday with 7:30 p.m. games against the Janesville (Wisconsin) Jets.

Petrich said his squad has been home for only 30 of the last 97 days. The Bears are 5-3 in their last eight at home but are struggling on the road.

“The road is starting to wear on us,” Petrich said.

The Brahmas moved to 26-12-5-4 and are in second place in the South Division. The Bears are 15-32-1-2 and in last in the Midwest Division, officially out of the playoffs because they are 21 points out of the division’s final playoff spot with 10 games left to play.

The Bears’ losses on the trip have come to the top two teams in the South.

“This road trip we’ve played two really good teams and the style of play down here is different,” Petrich said.

The coach said getting in a player’s lane is allowed more in the South, but that is not something with which the coach has a problem.

“It makes us a more physical team and harder to play against,” he said.

Special teams were the story of Friday’s game, but not the whole story. The Brahmas got all their goals on the power play, finishing 3 for 5, while Kenai River was 0 for 4.

But they were different kinds of power plays. With a scoreless game and 13:18 left in the second period, Eagle River’s Zach Krajnik drew a five-minute major for boarding.

Petrich didn’t have a problem with what Krajnik did and also said the officiating was fine in the game.

“Zach has really developed, since main camp and training camp, into a guy that completes his checks,” Petrich said. “He did what he’s been doing and the guy turned at the last second.”

Ture Linden got the first goal a little over a minute into the power play, then Linden scored again on the five-on-three after Markuss Komuls was booked for cross-checking.

After Justin Addamo made it 3-0 Lone Star with 14:10 left in the game, Petrich said the Bears started to gain momentum, with Filip Karlsson scoring on assists from Komuls and Eagle River’s Cameron McDonald with 9:46 left. Kenai River won the shot count 11-5 in the third.

Harrison Feeney stopped 19 for the Brahmas, while Gavin Enright had 21 saves for the Bears.

Saturday, Petrich said his squad did not show up for the first two periods. The Bears were outshot 25-8 in the first two periods and went down 5-0 on the scoreboard.

“I think the frustrating thing is we have the ability to do it,” Petrich said. “We showed up in the third period. Now we have to dive in and figure out why we didn’t show up in the first two.”

Petrich pulled goalie Kevin Lake after Lake stopped 20 of 25 shots in the first two periods. The coach said Lake was making great saves and didn’t deserve the abuse he was taking. Petrich said the bright spot was Enright stepping in and saving all 12 shots in the third period. Feeney had 15 saves for the shutout for the Brahmas.

Friday

Brahmas 3, Brown Bears 1

Kenai River 0 0 1 — 1

Lone Star 0 2 1 — 3

First period — none. Penalties — Lone Star 1 for 2:00.

Second period — 1. Lone Star, Linden (Ipri, Sirota), pp, 7:50; 2. Lone Star, Linden (Hallbauer, Sirota), pp, 10:30. Penalties — Kenai River 3 for 27:00; Lone Star 1 for 2:00.

Third period — 3. Lone Star, Addamo (Spellacy, Lennon), pp, 5:50; 4. Kenai River, Karlsson (Komuls, C. McDonald), 10:14. Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00; Lone Star 2 for 4:00.

Shots on goal — Kenai River 7-2-11—20; Lone Star 6-13-5—24.

Goalies — Kenai River, Enright (24 shots, 21 saves); Lone Star, Feeney (20 shots, 19 saves).

Power plays — Kenai River 0 for 4; Lone Star 3 for 5.

Saturday

Brahmas 5, Brown Bears 1

Kenai River 0 0 0 — 0

Lone Star 2 3 0 — 5

First period — 1. Lone Star, Bentley (Pletzke, Sirota), 4:05; 2. Lone Star, Linden (Russell, Trazzera), 6:16. Penalties — Kenai River 1 for 2:00; Lone Star 2 for 4:00.

Second period — 3. Lone Star, Ipri (Hallbauer, Linden), pp, 0:29; 4. Lone Star, Farris (un.), 6:57; 5. Lone Star, Sirota (Linden), 19:45. Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00; Lone Star 1 for 2:00.

Third period — none. Penalties — Kenai River 4 for 19:00; Lone Star 4 for 19:00.

Shots on goal — Kenai River 5-3-7—15; Lone Star 13-12-12—37.

Goalies — Kenai River, Lake (25 shots, 20 saves), Enright (12 shots, 12 saves); Lone Star, Feeney (15 shots, 15 saves).

Power plays — Kenai River 0 for 5, Lone Star 1 for 5.

More in Sports

Kenai Central third baseman Blake Morris tags out Soldotna's Easton Hawkins on Saturday, May 10, 2025, at Kenai Little League fields in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna baseball defeats Kenai

The Soldotna baseball team defeated Kenai Central 7-4 on Saturday in Northern… Continue reading

Homer's Keagan Niebuhr delivers to Chugiak on Friday, May 9, 2025 during the Bash on the Bay tournament at Jack Gist Park in Homer, Alaska. (Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)
Chugiak wins Bash on the Bay softball tournament in Homer

The Chugiak softball team defeated Soldotna 8-1 in the Saturday championship game… Continue reading

tease
Saturday soccer: Kenai, SoHi girls sweep 3-game road trips

The Kenai Central and Soldotna girls soccer teams finished off sweeps of… Continue reading

Homer's Weston Marley (3) and Preston Stanislaw celebrate a bases-clearing double against Kenai Central on Friday, May 9, 2025, at the Kenai Little League fields in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Friday: Opportunistic Homer baseball topples Kenai Central

The visiting Homer baseball team defeated Kenai Central 12-7 on Friday in… Continue reading

TEASE
Friday Bash on the Bay: Chugiak goes 5-0 in round-robin play

The Chugiak softball team is 5-0 after two days of round-robin play… Continue reading

tease
Friday soccer: SoHi notches sweep in Ketchikan

The Soldotna girls and boys soccer teams picked up a nonconference sweep… Continue reading

tease
Thursday soccer: Kenai sweeps Grace; SoHi splits in Juneau

The Kenai Central girls and boys soccer teams went on the road… Continue reading

tease
Thursday: Bartlett, Chugiak go 2-0 on 1st day of Bash on the Bay

The Bartlett and Chugiak softball teams are 2-0 after Thursday, the first… Continue reading

Runners in the first prelim of the women's 3000-meter steeplechase cast shadows at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials on Sunday, June 20, 2021, in Eugene, Ore., at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Homer’s Miller takes 2nd in 800 at RMAC meet

Homer graduate Brooke Miller finished second in the 800 meters at the… Continue reading

Most Read