The Fairbanks Ice Dogs finished up a three-game sweep of the Kenai River Brown Bears at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks with victories Friday and Saturday.
Friday, the Dogs notched an 8-0 victory in front of 2,242, while Saturday saw Fairbanks win 3-0 in front of 2,242. Fairbanks is now 13-0 this season against Kenai River.
“We just don’t believe we can play with them,” Kenai River head coach Jeff Worlton said after Friday’s game. “We don’t believe we should even be in the same rink.”
Fairbanks moves to 32-6-3, while the Bears are last in the league at 3-37-1.
After getting 12 power plays in Thursday’s 5-1 victory to the Bears’ six, the Ice Dogs received nine power plays to Kenai River’s three Friday.
“That just goes back to we respect them too much,” Worlton said. “They’re a good team, but they’re not the ’84 Oilers. They’re a good team, but they’re beatable on any given night just like anyone else.”
The Ice Dogs started quickly, with two goals on the board in the first 4 minutes, 1 second, of the game. Nick Nast was pulled for Magnus Lindhe, and Lindhe ended with 29 saves on 35 shots.
“Magnus Lindhe stood on his head as best he could,” Worlton said.
Fairbanks, which had three power-play goals, scored twice in the second period and four times in the third period. Tyler Tomberlin and Reggie Lutz led the charge, with Tomberlin bagging two goals and three assists, and Lutz nabbing a goal and four assists. Jacob Stridsberg also had two goals for Fairbanks. Gavin Nieto had the shutout for Fairbanks, as the Bears were able to manage just nine shots.
Worlton said the Bears took a step back as far as competing for all 60 minutes, although Kyle Martin and Billy Nichol did drop the gloves for the Bears in the third.
“We’re not happy,” Worlton said. “We’re not content. We’re not meeting our expectations. This is disappointing, just disappointing.”
The Bears had a better showing Saturday, getting outshot 37-26 in getting shut out by Fairbanks tender C.J. Boothe. Nast had 34 saves for the Bears.
Former Bears player Cam Cook had the lone goal of the first.
Both squads had six power plays, but Fairbanks did better with those opportunities, getting a power-play goal in the second from Stridsberg and a power-play goal in the third from Todd Burgess.
Kenai River stays on the road to face the Springfield (Illinois) Jr. Blues on Friday and Saturday at 4:05 p.m. AST.
Friday
Ice Dogs 8, Brown Bears 0
Kenai River 0 0 0 —0
Fairbanks 2 2 4 —8
First period — 1. Fairbanks, Stridsberg (Ingman, Cook), 3:43; 2. Fairbanks, Gorowsky (Burgess, Somoza), 4:01. Penalties — Kenai River 3 for 6:00; Fairbanks 1 for 2:00.
Second period — 3. Fairbanks, Lutz (Tomberlin, Mehnert), pp, 9:47; 4. Fairbanks, Cahill (Lutz, Tomberlin), pp, 14:23. Penalties — Kenai River 5 for 18:00; Fairbanks 2 for 4:00.
Third period — 5. Fairbanks, Stridsberg (Tomberlin, Lutz), 1:33; 6. Fairbanks, Tomberlin (Lutz, Mehnert), pp, 7:14; 7. Fairbanks, Cross (Cahill, Somoza), 14:20; 8. Fairbanks, Tomberlin (Lutz, Anderson), 15:17. Penalties — Kenai River 8 for 49:00; Fairbanks 5 for 32:00.
Shots on goal — Kenai River 4-3-2—9, Fairbanks 17-11-11—3.
Goalies — Kenai River, Nast (4 shots, 2 saves), Lindhe (35 shots, 29 saves); Fairbanks, Nieto (9 shots, 9 saves).
Power plays — Kenai River 0 for 3, Fairbanks 3 for 9.
Saturday
Ice Dogs 3, Brown Bears 0
Kenai River 0 0 0 —0
Fairbanks 1 1 1 —3
First period — 1. Fairbanks, Cook (Baumann, Stridsberg), 15:56. Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00.
Second period — 2. Fairbanks, Stridsberg (McPheters, Coomes), pp, 2:00. Penalties — Kenai River 3 for 6:00; Fairbanks 4 for 8:00.
Third period — 3. Fairbanks, Burgess (Coomes, Gorowsky), pp, 11:49. Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00; Fairbanks 3 for 6:00.
Shots on goal — Kenai River 4-11-11—26; Fairbanks 11-12-14—37.
Goalies — Kenai River, Nast (37 shots, 34 saves); Fairbanks, Boothe (26 shots, 26 saves).
Power plays — Kenai River 0 for 6; Fairbanks 2 for 6.
