The Kenai River Brown Bears lost 6-5 to the Rochester (New York) Jr. Americans on Saturday at the final day of the North American Hockey League Showcase.
The Bears fall to 3-2-0-0, while the Jr. Americans move to 3-2-0-1. Kenai River stays on the road to play the Springfield (Illinois) Jr. Blues on Friday at 4:05 p.m. AKDT.
Kenai River grabbed a 2-0 lead after the first period Saturday only to go down 3-2 with 7:11 left in the second.
By the time 11:28 was left in the game, Kenai River had a 5-3 lead only to give up three goals in the final 6:21.
The Bears also gave up a 3-0 lead after the first period in a 4-3 loss to the Oklahoma Warriors on Wednesday in the opening day of the Showcase.
“Consistency is a big piece, and learning how to finish,” Kenai River head coach Taylor Shaw said in an interview on the NAHL YouTube channel. “Both our losses this week came after we had multigoal leads.
“It’s certainly something we don’t want to happen again.”
The Bears dominated special teams play in the game, scoring three times on the power play and getting a short-handed score.
Marko Giourof, on his way to a hat trick, scored twice on the power play for the Bears in the first period. The first was assisted by Tiziano Pauchard, while the second was assisted by Nick Stevens and Cade Baker.
In the second, the Jr. Americans stormed back to take the lead on goals by Matteo Disipio, Sawyer Boulton and Jaden Dyke.
With 3:14 left in the second period, Giourof completed his hat trick with a power-play goal on a Stevens assist.
With 46 seconds left in the second period, Jackson Ebbott put Kenai River up 4-3 on a short-handed goal.
Then Hayden Walters put the Bears up 5-3 in the third, assisted by Carter Gillen and Stevens.
But Dexter Kichline, Massimo Gentile and Adam Gionta rattled off goals to win the game for Rochester.
Florian Wade made 34 saves for the Jr. Americans, while Conor Sullivan stopped 27 for the Bears.
