The Kenai River Brown Bears split a pair of games on the road over the weekend in North American Hockey League play.
The Bears are 3-1-0-0 after a 5-1 loss to the Chippewa (Wisconsin) Steel on Friday and a 5-2 victory over the Springfield (Illinois) Jr. Blues on Saturday.
The Steel are 2-1-1-0 while the Jr. Blues are 1-1-0-0. The Bears and Wisconsin Windigo are atop the Midwest Division with identical records.
Friday, the Bears fell behind 3-0 after the first period. In the second period, Carter McCormick, assisted by Dario Lass and Riley Mullen, cut it to 3-1 on the power play.
The Steel closed the game with two goals in the third period.
“They jumped on us right away,” Kenai River head coach Taylor Shaw said. “We adjusted, I thought, for a decent amount in the second period and then kind of ran out of gas.
“It didn’t look like us, for sure.”
Devin Shakar stopped 28 for the Steel, while Mitchell Mccusker had 26 saves for the Bears.
The Bears spent the night in Wisconsin, then took a seven-hour bus ride to Illinois, arriving at 2:30 p.m. with the game at 6 p.m.
“After riding a bus for seven hours today, to get off to a fast start was great,” Shaw said. “Springy really pushed and fought to stay in the game.
“I thought our group overall did a good job managing it.”
Kenai River led 2-0 just four minutes into the game, with both goals by James Lyver. The first was assisted by Dario Lass, the second by Lass and McCormick.
Also in the first period, Michael Fiedorczuk scored on assists from Mullen and Jackson Ebbott.
Fiedorczuk is just 18. He is from Illinois and, with his parents in the stands, got his first NAHL goal.
Also in the first, Lass scored on the power play from McCormick. That also was the first NAHL goal for Lass.
Springfield was able to cut it to 4-2 with 18:28 left in the game, but Shaw said Mccusker played well in closing the game. He had 32 saves. Jr. Blues goalies combined for 32 saves.
Greye Rampton, assisted by Andy Larson and Ebbott, closed the scoring with an empty-netter.
The Bears open the NAHL Showcase against the Maryland Black Bears on Wednesday at 8 a.m. AKDT.
Shaw said he is looking forward to the Showcase because players on his team are already getting a lot of interest from scouts.
Friday
Steel 5, Brown Bears 1
Ken 0 1 0 —1
Chi 3 0 2 —5
First period — 1. Chippewa, Ligi (Lackas, Trunda), 1:04. 2. Chippewa, G. Peterson (Ligi), pp, 11:55; 3. Chippewa, Lackas (Ligi), 19:11. Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00; Chippewa 2 for 4:00.
Second period — 4. Kenai River, McCormick (Lass, Mullen), pp, 5:06. Penalties — Kenai River 3 for 6:00; Chippewa 3 for 6:00.
Third period — 5. Chippewa, Middendorf (Lafrance, Ligi), pp, 3:38; 6. Chippewa, Ligi (Trunda, Lackas), 5:25. Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00; Chippewa 1 for 2:00.
Shots on goal — Kenai River 13-11-5—29; Chippewa 12-11-8—31.
Goalies — Kenai River, Mccusker (31 shots, 26 saves); Chippewa, Shakar (29 shots, 28 saves).
Saturday
Brown Bears 5, Jr. Blues 2
Ken 4 0 1 —5
Spr 0 1 1 —2
First period — 1. Kenai River, Lyver (Lass), 0:37; 2. Kenai River, Lyver (Lass, McCormick), 4:00; 3. Kenai River, Fiedorczuk (Mullen, Ebbott), 10:51; 4. Kenai River, Lass (McCormick), pp, 1:15. Penalties — Kenai River 1 for 2:00; Springfield 1 for 2:00.
Second period — 5. Springfield, Ganz (Sutton), 6:08. Penalties — Kenai River 3 for 6:00; Springfield 2 for 4:00.
Third period — 6. Springfield, McClelland (Broadhead), 1:32; 7. Kenai River, Rampton (Larson, Ebbott), 19:13. Penalties — Kenai River 3 for 6:00; Springfield 2 for 4:00.
Shots on goal — Kenai River 10-10-16—36; Springfield 5-19-10—34.
Goalies — Kenai River, Mccusker (34 shots, 32 saves); Springfield, Schoephoerster (8 shots, 5 saves), Murphy (28 shots, 27 saves).
