The Kenai River Brown Bears defeated the Fairbanks Ice Dogs 4-3 in a shootout Saturday in North American Hockey League play at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks.
Kenai River snapped an eight-game losing streak with a dramatic comeback, scoring twice in the final 2:42 of the game to force overtime, then winning a shootout that went to four rounds.
Kenai River head coach Taylor Shaw said the victory shows the players have kept coming to work despite the losing streak.
“Two goals in the final four minutes of the game, being down 3-1, on the road and at the Dip,” Shaw said. “It’s no easy feat, and it just goes back to the guys we have in this room.”
The Ice Dogs saw a five-game winning streak snapped, but still lead the Club 49 Cup. Fairbanks has 16 points, while the Anchorage Wolverines have six and Kenai River has five.
Fairbanks is in third place in the Midwest Division at 14-3-1-3, while the Bears are in seventh place at 9-13-1-2 for 21 points. Kenai River is just four points out of a playoff spot.
The Brown Bears now travel to the Lower 48, taking on the Springfield (Illinois) Jr. Blues on Friday, Dec. 6, at 4:05 p.m. AKST and Saturday, Dec. 7, at 3:05 p.m. AKST.
“I think the guys are excited to get a transition, a change of pace here, and be out on the road for a few weeks together,” Shaw said. “We have three weeks of games before we get a break.
“The guys are focused right now, dialed in, obviously enjoying the moment, but turning the page to next week.”
The Bears also avoided turning the calendar from November without getting a win in that month.
The teams traded goals in the first period, with Cole Burke scoring for Fairbanks and Colten Nestler, assisted by Luke Lizak and Jackson Ebbott, scoring for the Bears.
Luca Ricciardi of Fairbanks had the lone goal of the second period.
“I thought they pressed us at times just in terms of turning us over,” Shaw said of the Ice Dogs. “And we weren’t able to kill plays as much as we would like.
“One-one after one, then I didn’t really love our second period and the boys knew it.”
Wyatt Carlson put Fairbanks up 3-1 just 1:15 into the third period on a power-play goal.
With just 6:44 left, things looked really bleak when Kenai River drew a two-minute penalty.
The Bears killed that off, then pulled the goalie with 4:25 left. With 2:42 left, Lizak took the puck from the neutral zone and scored. William Esterbrooks and Gavin Jensen had assists.
“He’s got some gangly long arms that have a little bit of sneak attack in them,” Shaw said of the defenseman.
With over two minutes left, Kenai River pulled the goalie again. With 36 seconds left, the Brown Bears had some nice offensive zone time and turned net-front presence into a goal by Joseph Yoon, assisted by Brady Engelkes and Luke Hause.
“Yooner was kind of net front about hash mark deep,” Shaw said. “He didn’t overhandle it, just snapped it back and she saw the net.
“It doesn’t happen very often where you get two extra attacker goals.”
In the first round of three in the shootout, Greye Rampton scored for Kenai River, while Ian Norkevicus scored for Fairbanks.
Jack Clarke scored in sudden death for the Bears, while Bears netminder Owen Zenone stopped Ingus Locmelis.
Zenone had 23 saves, while Mason McElroy stopped 25 for the Ice Dogs.
“Hearing the boys sing after the game is why we do it,” Shaw said. “It was a pretty gutsy win, the way it all shaped out there.”
Saturday
Brown Bears 4, Ice Dogs 3, SO
Ken 1 0 2 0 1 —4
Fai 1 1 1 0 0 —3
First period — 1. Fairbanks, Burke (Carlson, Timm), 6:03. 2. Kenai River, Nestler (Lizak, Ebbott), 12:26. Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00; Fairbanks 1 for 2:00.
Second period — 3. Fairbanks, Ricciardi (Noble, Norkevicus), 15:49. Penalties — Kenai River 1 for 2:00; Fairbanks 1 for 2:00.
Third period — 4. Fairbanks, Carlson (Burke, Bergner), pp, 1:15. 5. Kenai River, Lizak (Esterbrooks, Jensen), ea, 17:18. 6. Kenai River, Yoon (Engelkes, Hause), ea, 19:24. Penalties — Kenai River 4 for 8:00; Fairbanks 2 for 4:00.
Overtime — none. Penalties — none.
Shootout — Kenai River 2 (Rampton G, Lass NG, Engelkes NG, Clarke G); Fairbanks 1 (Ricciardi NG, Bergner NG, Norkevicus G, Locmelis NG).
Shots on goal — Kenai River 9-7-9-3—28; Fairbanks 9-7-6-4—26.
Goalies — Kenai River, Zenone (26 shots, 23 saves); Fairbanks, McElroy (28 shots, 25 saves).
Power plays — Kenai River 0 for 3; Fairbanks 1 for 6.
