The Kenai River Brown Bears dropped a 2-0 decision to the Fairbanks Ice Dogs on Friday at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks in North American Hockey League play.
The Ice Dogs are in first place in the Midwest Division at 21-11-3-0, while the Bears are in third at 19-15-1-1.
In the standings for the Club 49 Cup, the Anchorage Wolverines now have 17, while the Ice Dogs have 11 and the Brown Bears have seven.
Kenai River head coach Taylor Shaw was not happy with the way his team played in the first two periods.
“We didn’t manage the puck very well in the first 40 minutes of the hockey game,” Shaw said. “We were turning over a ton of pucks at the blue line and not winning wall battles. We were not playing our brand of hockey.”
Noah Wood scored in the first period for the Ice Dogs, while Colin Goff scored in the third.
Shaw said the bright spot was Nils Wallstrom, who had 38 saves while Kayden Hargraves had 25 for the Ice Dogs.
“You can tell why Nils is a highly sought after recruit,” Shaw said. “He’s the reason we had a chance.”
Maclain Weasler is the emergency backup goalie for the Bears while Bryant Marks deals with a day-to-day injury.
The Bears also have acquired Jacob Zwirecki from the El Paso (Texas) Rhinos. Shaw said Zwirecki, at 6-foot-3, 202 pounds, is a big, puck-moving defenseman. Shaw said the staff already knows Zwirecki well and the team is fortunate to have him.
