The Kenai River Brown Bears were swept on the road against the Chippewa (Wisconsin) Steel, losing 8-2 on Friday and 5-0 on Saturday in North American Hockey League play.
The Steel move to 6-2-0-0 and into first place in the Midwest Division, while Kenai River falls to 4-2-1-1 and is tied with Fairbanks for second in the division.
The Brown Bears have their home opener Friday at 7:30 p.m. against the Janesville (Wisconsin) Jets at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex.
Chippewa’s Chase Hamstad lit the lamp just 10 seconds in Friday night to jump-start a barrage of scoring for the Steel.
Friday’s loss snapped a four-game win streak for Kenai River. It was the first game of the year that the Bears failed to come away with a point after seven games of NAHL action.
The Brown Bears found life difficult against a Steel team ranked 10th (of 26 teams) in the league in scoring, but sixth-best in goals allowed.
Hamstad’s quick strike led to a three-goal burst in the opening period for Chippewa.
Kenai River broke through 54 seconds into the second when Theo Thrun tallied his team-high fourth goal of the year on a Bears’ power play, getting help from Zach Krajnik and Max Helgeson to cut the lead to 3-1.
Chippewa came back with goals from Alec Schwab and Ian Famulak (on a short-handed strike) to push the lead back to 5-1.
Krajnik scored on the power play with 4:10 remaining in the second, but penalties continued to hurt the Bears, which committed four for a draining 24 minutes in the second period alone.
Schwab finished the night with two goals for Chippewa, as did forward Jacob Dirks. Chippewa forward Connor Szmul tallied five assists.
Landon Pavlisin took the loss in goal for Kenai River, giving up six goals on 35 shots. Danny Fraga took over for Pavlisin in the third period and gave up two goals on three shots. Grant Boldt stopped 27 of 29 for the Steel.
Saturday, the Steel scored once in the first period, three times in the second and once in the third.
Danny Fraga made 42 saves for Kenai River, while Trent Burnham stopped 27 for the Steel.
Friday
Steel 8, Brown Bears 2
Kenai River 0 2 0 —2
Chippewa 3 2 3 —8
1st period — 1. Chippewa, Hamstad (Gotovets), :10; 2. Chippewa, Lindstrom (Szmul, Gotovets), 4:02; 3. Chippewa, Dirks (Szmul, Oyler), 16:55. Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00; Chippewa 2 for 4:00.
2nd period — 4. Kenai River, Thrun (Krajnik, Helgeson), :54, PP; 5. Chippewa, Schwab (Szmul), 12:26; 6. Chippewa, Famulak (Szmul, Schwab), 15:33 (SH); 7. Kenai River, Krajnik (Thrun, Ritchie), 15:50, PP. Penalties — Kenai River 4 for 24:00; Chippewa 7 for 22:00.
3rd period — 8. Chippewa, Dirks (Lindstrom, Szmul), 11:39; 9. Chippewa, Dorfman (Oyler, Demsey), 15:14, PP; 10. Chippewa, Schwab (Dorfman, Kerchoff), 16:39. Penalties — Kenai River 4 for 16:00; Chippewa 3 for 14:00.
Shots on goal — Kenai River 8-14-7—29; Chippewa 11-10-17—38.
Goalies — Kenai River, Pavlisin (35 shots, 29 saves), Fraga (3 shots, 1 save); Chippewa, Boldt (29 shots, 27 saves).
Power plays — Kenai River 0 for 2; Chippewa 0 for 1.
Saturday
Steel 5, Brown Bears 0
Kenai River 0 0 0 — 0
Chippewa 1 3 1 — 5
First period — 1. Chippewa, Ogle (un.), 14:40. Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00; Chippewa 2 for 4:00.
Second period — 2. Chippewa, Szmul (Schwengler, Kiecker-Olson), pp, 8:33; 3. Chippewa, Kerchoff (Black, Famulak), 15:22; 4. Chippewa, Druskinis (Lindstrom, Ogle), 16:43. Penalties — Kenai River 1 for 2:00.
Third period — 5. Chippewa, Dorfman (un.), 5:08. Penalties — Kenai River 6 for 51:00; Chippewa 2 for 4:00.
Shots on goal — Kenai River 4-12-11—27; Chippewa 16-18-13—47.
Goalies — Kenai River, Fraga (47 shots, 42 saves); Chippewa, Burnham (27 shots, 27 saves).
