The Kenai River Brown Bears defeated the Anchorage Wolverines 3-2 in a shootout Saturday in North American Hockey League play at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.
After losing to the Wolverines 4-0 Friday at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex, the Brown Bears were able to travel to Anchorage the next day and get revenge.
“I’m just proud of the group,” Kenai River head coach Taylor Shaw said. “They’ve been competitive all year.
“It would have been easy to give a few more away, but the group stayed resilient through all of it, and they showed it on Saturday night.”
The Brown Bears, with seven games left, remain in seventh place in the Midwest Division at 21-24-4-3, good for 49 points. Anchorage is in third at 30-14-2-4, good for 66 points.
The Chippewa (Wisconsin) Steel hold the fourth and final playoff spot out of the Midwest with 58 points.
“It’s probably one of the toughest divisions in the league, if not the toughest,” Shaw said. “Only one team has clinched, compared to some of the other divisions.
“It’s a gauntlet.”
The Bears host the first-place Wisconsin Windigo on Saturday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. in a rare one-game series at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. After that, Kenai River has just two home games left.
Andy Larson was the only one of the six shooters in the shootout to score Saturday, handing the game to Kenai River.
Larson is one of four players on the Brown Bears roster who will age out after this season.
“He’s got a knack for scoring goals,” Shaw said. “I don’t think they’ve fallen the way we had all hoped, including, for the most part, him.
“At big moments, you can count on him. He’s plays big-time minutes in all situations. A school in the fall is going to be lucky to have a player like that.”
Shaw said it was key to get up early in the game, and Joey Gillespie, assisted by Thomas Gunderson and William Esterbrooks, did exactly that just 2:50 in.
Gillespie has been tendered by the Brown Bears and Shaw said Gillespie will spend the rest of the season with the team.
He just finished playing in the Minnesota state high school hockey tournament and its famous large crowds at the Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis, so the large gathering at the Sully did not faze him.
Early in the second period, Taisetsu Ushio tied it for Anchorage, but Wes Berg, assisted by Gavin Jensen and Larson, put the Bears ahead with 9:13 left in the second period.
Berg now has five goals and eight assists in 16 games since being acquired from the St. Cloud (Minnesota) Norsemen.
“Change of scenery, a lot of new opportunities, and he’s taking advantage of it,” Shaw said. “He finds his way around the net, there’s no doubt about it.”
Daniel Bagnole tied it for Anchorage headed to the third, but that’s all Mitchell Mccusker, who had 40 saves, would give up for the night. Michael Manzi stopped 35 for the Wolverines.
“He played really well,” Shaw said of Mccusker. “He made some key saves at key moments and gave us an opportunity to win.
“That’s all you can ask.”
Saturday
Brown Bears 3, Wolverines 2, SO
Ken 1 1 0 0 1 —3
Anc 0 2 0 0 0 —2
First period — 1. Kenai River, Gillespie (Gunderson, Esterbrooks), 2:50. Penalties — Kenai River 4 for 19:00; Anchorage 3 for 17:00.
Second period — 2. Anchorage, Ushio (Devlin, Karkoc), 1:11. 3. Kenai River, Berg (Jensen, Larson), 10:47. 4. Anchorage, Bagnole (Stimple, Carlson), pp, 13:22. Penalties — Kenai River 1 for 2:00; Anchorage 3 for 6:00.
Third period — none. Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00; Anchorage 1 for 2:00.
Overtime — none. Penalties — none.
Shootout — Kenai River 1 (Gunderson NG, Larson G, Jensen NG), Anchorage 0 (Carlson NG, Devlin NG, Bagnole NG).
Shots on goal — Kenai River 8-16-13-0—37; Anchorage 13-15-13-1—42.
Goalies — Kenai River, Mccusker (42 shots, 40 saves); Anchorage, Manzi (37 shots, 35 saves).
Power plays — Kenai River 0 for 5; Anchorage 1 for 5.
