The Kenai River Brown Bears were swept by the host Minnesota Magicians on Friday and Saturday in North American Hockey League play.
“They’ve got a good team,” Kenai River head coach Kevin Murdock said of the Magicians. “Collectively, (Friday), we had our worst game of the season. (Saturday), we played well and had a ton of chances, but we couldn’t get any bounces.”
The Bears, who had a four-game winning streak going in to the series, lost 5-2 on Friday and 4-1 on Saturday. The Magicians and Brown Bears are now tied for second in the Midwest Division, Minnesota at 7-1-0-0 and Kenai River at 7-5-0-0.
Friday, Wasilla’s Porter Schachle had a pair of goals, but it was not enough to hold off the Magicians.
Schachle started the scoring 11:59 into the game, but less than two minutes later the Magicians already had a 2-1 lead.
“I thought we started out pretty slow and we were fortunate Porter got that goal,” Murdock said. “They got two quick ones, and that put us on our heels a bit.”
Minnesota would then score two goals in the second period and another in the third before Schachle lit the lamp again with 3:51 left in the game for the 5-2 final score.
Andy Beran stopped 38 for the victory, while Luke Pavicich made 42 saves in the loss.
Saturday, the Bears again scored first, but Minnesota again claimed victory.
Just 59 seconds into the game, Peter Morgan gave the Bears a 1-0 lead. Minnesota goalie Marino Ramirez would keep the Bears off the board the rest of the way, while Minnesota scored a goal in the first period, two in the second and a capper in the third.
“I thought we played much better, but I don’t think we played either game this weekend to the caliber we’ve shown we can play at,” Murdock said.
Ramirez stopped 42,while Andrew Rose saved 33 for the Bears.
The Bears picked up Rose when his league in Canada went on pause. Before practicing with the Bears on Monday, he hadn’t been on the ice in five weeks.
The Bears face the Minnesota Wilderness today at 4:15 p.m. AKST.
Friday
Magicians 5, Brown Bears 2
Kenai River 1 0 1 —2
Minnesota 2 2 1 —5
First period — 1. Kenai River, Schachle (Morgan, Reid), 11:59; 2. Minnesota, Longhi (Falk, Oravitz), 12:30; 3. Minnesota, Oberle (Christy, Kron), 13:25. Penalties — Kenai River 1 for 2:00.
Second period — 4. Minnesota, Christy (Weiss, Kron), 4:35; 5. Minnesota, Roed (Oravitz, Stein), 14:05. Penalties — Kenai River 3 for 6:00; Minnesota 2 for 4:00.
Third period — 6. Minnesota, Light (Cronin, Kukkonen), 10:12; 7. Kenai River, Schachle (Morgan, Dodge), 16:09. Penalties — Minnesota 1 for 2:00.
Shots on goal — Kenai River 12-11-17—40; Minnesota 19-18-10—47.
Goalies — Kenai River, Pavicich (47 shots, 42 saves); Minnesota, Beran (40 shots, 38 saves).
Power plays — Kenai River 0 for 2; Minnesota 0 for 3.
Saturday
Magicians 4, Brown Bears 1
Kenai River 1 0 0 —1
Minnesota 1 2 1 —4
First period — 1. Kenai River, Morgan (Helgeson, Hadfield), 0:59; 2. Minnesota, Longhi (Kron, Cronin), 17:58. Penalties — none.
Second period — 3. Minnesota, Christy (Seitz, Oravitz), 15:45; 4. Minnesota, McCabe (Roed, Stein), 19:01. Penalties — Minnesota 1 for 2:00.
Third period — 5. Minnesota, Longhi (Falk, Tussey), pp, 5:29. Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00; Minnesota 2 for 6:00.
Shots on goal — Kenai River 11-17-15—43; Minnesota 15-12-10—37.
Goalies — Kenai River, Rose (37 shots, 33 saves); Minnesota, Ramirez (43 shots, 42 saves).
Power plays — Kenai River 0 for 3, Minnesota 1 for 2.
