The Kenai River Brown Bears completed a weekend sweep of the Anchorage Wolverines with a 4-3 shootout victory Saturday at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.
The Bears have won three straight, all against the Wolverines, and four of their last five.
That puts Kenai River with 13 points in the Club 49 Cup, with Fairbanks at 18 and the Wolverines at nine.
Kenai River remains in seventh place in the Midwest Division with everybody having at least 20 games left on the schedule. The Bears are 16-20-1-2, good for 35 points. The Chippewa (Wisconsin) Steel currently hold the fourth and final playoff spot out of the division with 42 points.
Anchorage is in third place at 24-10-2-2, good for 52 points. The Wisconsin Windigo lead the division with 57 points.
The Bears were down 4-2 in the third period. Kenai River head coach Taylor Shaw said he pulled the goalie with about 5:30 to play.
With 2:24 left, defenseman John Ross found defenseman Luke Lizak on the back door for a 4-3 game.
With 2:10 left, forward Brady Engelkes got the puck to defenseman William Esterbrooks just above the slot. Esterbrooks laced home the goal for the tie.
“He’s typically been a high offensive D man in his past,” Shaw said of Esterbrooks. “He can wire a puck.”
In overtime, the Bears earned a four-on-three power play with 35 seconds left and Esterbrooks rung the pipe, but the game went to a shootout.
Mitchell Mccusker stopped all Anchorage shooters, while Samuel Sisik scored for Kenai River. Shaw said the other two shooters hit pipes.
Mccusker finished with 38 saves, while Michael Manzi had 23 for the Wolverines.
Shaw said a big part of the recent string of success has been goaltending.
“Both have shown they have the ability to help us win games,” Shaw said, including Owen Zenone. “We’re going to continue to count on them in the last 20-plus games we have.”
Mccusker kept Kenai River in the game as the Bears got off to a slow start. Anchorage’s Jackson Stimple opened the scoring in the game, but Andy Larson, assisted by Gavin Jensen and Dario Lass, had it tied with 41 seconds left in the first.
Taisetsu Ushio scored in the second period and early in the third period for the 4-2 lead.
Kenai River hosts the Minnesota Wilderness on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, at 7:30 p.m. at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex.
“We’ve just got to keep controlling our own destiny,” Shaw said. “We continue to play the way we’re supposed to, and worry about us, and we’ll see what happens.”
Saturday
Brown Bears 4, Wolverines 3, SO
Ken 1 0 2 0 1 —4
Anc 1 1 1 0 0 —5
First period — 1. Anchorage, Stimple (un.), 4:28. 2. Kenai River, Larson (Jensen, Lass), 19:19. Penalties — Kenai River 1 for 2:00; Anchorage 1 for 2:00.
Second period — 3. Anchorage, Ushio (Bednarik, Christian), 13:12. Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00; Anchorage 2 for 4:00.
Third period — 4. Anchorage, Ushio (Christian), 3:59. 5. Kenai River, Lizak (Ross), ea, 17:36. 6. Kenai River, Esterbrooks (Engelkes), 17:50. Penalties — Kenai River 2 for 4:00; Anchorage 1 for 2:00.
Overtime — none. Penalties — Anchorage 1 for 2:00.
Shootout — Kenai River 1 (Jensen NG, Sisik G, Larson NG); Anchorage 0 (Ushio NG, Devlin NG, Bednarik NG).
Shots on goal — Kenai River 7-8-10-1—26; Anchorage 12-15-14—41.
Goalies — Kenai River, Mccusker (41 shots, 38 saves); Anchorage, Manzi (26 shots, 23 saves).
Power plays — Kenai River 0 for 5; Anchorage 0 for 5.
