The Kenai River Brown Bears lost 3-2 in overtime to the Anchorage Wolverines in North American Hockey League play Saturday at Ben Boeke Ice Arena in Anchorage.
The Bears snapped a 10-game pointless streak, but also lost for an 11th straight time.
The Wolverines improve to 22-10-2-2 and are tied for third place in the Midwest Division with the Minnesota Wilderness, with each having 48 points. The Brown Bears are in last place with a 12-25-2-0 record for 26 points.
Anchorage also has a commanding lead in the Club 49 Cup, the battle for supremacy among Alaska’s three junior hockey clubs. The Wolverines have 23 points, while the Bears and Fairbanks Ice Dogs are tied with eight apiece.
The game was tied at 1 after the first period. Kenai River’s Andy Larson scored on assists from Gavin Duckworth and Nick Stevens, while Brock Devlin scored for the Wolverines.
In the second period, Kenai River’s Roope Tuomioksa scored on the power play with help from Luke Hause and Jackson Ebbott.
Kenai River won the special teams battle, going 1 for 5 while Anchorage was 0 for 6.
“I thought our kill was really good, we had a power-play goal and we had other chances,” Kenai River head coach Taylor Shaw said. “It’s the results at the end that matter the most, and we were on the wrong end.”
Kenai River held the 2-1 lead until 3:52 remained in the game, when Kade Shea scored. Cole Christian then notched the game-winner with 1:55 left in the five-minute overtime.
Shaw said both goals were the result of turnovers in bad areas ending up in the back of the net. The coach said it’s great that his team continues to battle.
“That part’s great, but in the end we haven’t won a hockey game in 11 games,” he said.
Conor Sullivan made 43 saves for the Bears, while Vaughn Makar stopped 20 for the Wolverines.
“Sully kept us in the game,” Shaw said.
The Bears go on a four-game road trip, playing the Chippewa (Wisconsin) Steel on Friday and Saturday at 4 p.m. AKST.
Kenai River returns to the sports complex to play the Wolverines on Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
