The Kenai River Brown Bears fell 4-1 to the Maryland Black Bears on Wednesday in the opening round of the North American Hockey League Showcase in Blaine, Minnesota.
The Black Bears are now 4-1-0-0, while the Brown Bears are 3-2-0-0.
Kenai River has a day off at the Showcase before taking on the Danbury (Connecticut) Hat Tricks on Friday, Sept. 27, at 9:15 a.m. AKDT, and the Minnesota Mallards on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 12:30 p.m. AKDT.
After that, the Brown Bears travel to Alaska for the home opener at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex against the Janesville (Wisconsin) Jets on Friday, Oct. 4, at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Riley Fast struck for Maryland just 1:58 into the game.
“They jumped on us right away, and we just couldn’t really get any traction or footing in the game consistently,” Kenai River head coach Taylor Shaw said.
Dario Lass scored unassisted to draw the Brown Bears even with 5:18 left in the first period.
Before the end of the period, the Black Bears would score on the power play. They then scored a goal in the second period and had another power-play goal in the third period.
Benji Motew made 25 saves for Maryland, while Mitchell Mccusker had 30 for Kenai River.
Kenai River had seven penalties in the game, while Maryland had five. Shaw said all the special teams kept his team from getting momentum going.
“I think the issue on the kill today was we didn’t clear pucks out when we had opportunities,” Shaw said.
Forward Brady Engelkes joined the Brown Bears last weekend after starting the season with the Fargo (North Dakota) Force of the Tier I United States Hockey League. The NAHL is Tier II.
“That’s a tough break for Brady,” Shaw said. “We weren’t expecting him to be back this year.
“I think he’s excited to be back around the group, and we’re certainly excited to have him. Hopefully, a team comes calling at some point, and he gets to go back up there.”
Shaw said it is exciting for the team to be in front of so many scouts, but the group was not happy with their performance.
“It’s good to fight a little adversity right now and figure it out,” Shaw said.
Wednesday
Black Bears 4, Brown Bears 1
Ken 1 0 0 —1
Mry 2 1 1 —4
First period — 1. Maryland, Fast (Janus), 1:58. 2. Kenai River, Lass (un.), 14:42. 3. Maryland, El Bashir (un.), pp, 17:44. Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00; Maryland 2 for 4:00.
Second period — 4. Maryland, Janus (Samenas, Boucher), 1:47. Penalties — Kenai River 3 for 6:00; Maryland 1 for 2:00.
Third period — 5. Maryland, Stenger (Samenas, Janus), pp, 10:33. Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00; Maryland 2 for 4:00.
Shots on goal — Kenai River 6-8-12—26; Maryland 14-14-6—34.
Goalies — Kenai River, Mccusker (34 shots, 30 saves); Maryland, Motew (26 shots, 25 saves).
