The Wisconsin Windigo swept the Kenai River Brown Bears on Friday and Saturday in North American Hockey League action at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex.
The Windigo won 4-2 on Friday and 8-2 on Saturday.
Wisconsin sits atop the Midwest Division standings at 10-1-0-1 with 21 points. The Anchorage Wolverines, Fairbanks Ice Dogs and Brown Bears (7-6-1-0) are tied for second at 15 points.
The Bears host the Ice Dogs on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 25 and 26, at 7:30 p.m.
The Windigo penalty kill was the key Friday, holding the Bears to 0 for 8. Kenai River had a five-minute major and two five-on-three opportunities, but failed to score.
Kenai River head coach Taylor Shaw said the Bears worked on the power play in practice in the week before the game.
“We have made a bunch of tweaks on the power plays,” Shaw said. “We’re trying to give them time to make the adjustments and feel comfortable in them.
“Some big changes, not just personnel, but structure.”
The Windigo are very aggressive on the penalty kill and did not ease the Brown Bears into adjusting to the new power play.
“We play fast on the penalty kill,” Windigo head coach John Mitchell said. “Sometimes that can put our goalie in a bit of a predicament, and we need him to bail us out when that predicament happens.”
Beau Altman did just that, making 33 saves. Mitchell Mccusker had 20 for the Bears.
Even while struggling on the power play, the Bears took a 2-1 lead into the third period.
Gavin Jensen, assisted by Austin Petersen and Brady Engelkes, put Kenai River up 1-0 after the first.
Braydon Beahm scored on the power play in the second period for the Windigo, but Jackson Ebbott, assisted by William Esterbrooks and Oliver Langland, answered for Kenai River less than a minute later.
Mitchell said he didn’t like his squad’s first two periods, saying it took some time to shake off the travel.
“I was proud of the way our guys stayed the course,” he said. “They fought off those penalty kills.
“I felt as long as we were able to try and stay five-on-five, we had a chance.”
In the third period, the Windigo jumped out to a 3-2 lead with 8:02 left in the game on goals by Beahm and Riley Joslin.
Shaw was not happy with either goal.
“It was just a breakdown in structure,” he said.
With 4:56 left in the game, the Bears went on 1:46 of a five-on-three and failed to tie the game.
That set up Theodore Richardson up for the empty-netter with 1:53 left.
Saturday, the Windigo took control of the game with eight unanswered goals, including five in the second period.
Kenai River scored just 11 seconds into the game, with Jensen lighting the lamp on assists from Joseph Yoon and Luke Lizak.
Luke Baker scored in the first for the Windigo, then Elliot Gulley had two goals and Alexios Georgaklis, Lucas Busch and Michael Ryan scored in the second period.
Jordan Brothers had a pair of goals in the third period for an 8-1 game before Engelkes, assisted by Andy Larson, scored for Kenai River.
The Windigo had three power-play goals, while the Bears did not score on the power play.
Lucas Szyszka had 31 saves for the Windigo, while Owen Zenone had 18 saves on 22 shots and Leif Ekblad had 15 saves on 19 shots for Kenai River.
Friday
Windigo 4, Brown Bears 2
Wis 0 1 3 —4
Ken 1 1 0 —2
First period — 1. Kenai River, Jensen (Petersen, Engelkes), 17:29. Penalties — Wisconsin 3 for 6:00; Kenai River 2 for 4:00.
Second period — 2. Wisconsin, Beahm (Ryan, Gulley), pp, 4:48. 3. Kenai River, Ebbott (Esterbrooks, Langland), 5:17. Penalties — Wisconsin 6 for 26:00; Kenai River 5 for 21:00.
Third period — 4. Wisconsin, Beahm (Herres, Gulley), 10:17. 5. Wisconsin, Joslin (Frey, Hill), 11:58. 6. Wisconsin, Richardson (Georgaklis, Cline), en, 18:07. Penalties — Wisconsin 5 for 10:00; Kenai River 3 for 6:00.
Shots on goal — Wisconsin 7-9-8—24; Kenai River 14-11-10—35.
Goalies — Wisconsin, Altman (35 shots, 33 saves); Kenai River, Mccusker (24 shots, 20 saves).
Power plays — Wisconsin 1 for 4; Kenai River 0 for 8.
Saturday
Windigo 8, Brown Bears 2
Wis 1 5 2 —8
Ken 1 0 1 —2
First period — 1. Kenai River, Jensen (Yoon, Lizak), 0:11. 2. Wisconsin, Baker (Dolzhenko, Kralovec), 9:08. Penalties — Wisconsin 3 for 6:00; Kenai River 2 for 4:00.
Second period — 3. Wisconsin, Georgaklis (Brothers, Richardson), 3:03; 4. Wisconsin, Busch (Nickolaus, Ernst), 4:48. 5. Wisconsin, Gulley (Beahm, DiMaggio), 10:44. 6. Wisconsin, Gulley (Cline, Ryan), pp, 14:09; 7. Wisconsin, Ryan (Gulley, Cline), pp, 16:09. Penalties — Wisconsin 1 for 2:00; Kenai River 4 for 8:00.
Third period — 8. Wisconsin, Brothers (Richardson, Joslin), 9:11; 9. Wisconsin, Brothers (Richardson, Georgaklis), pp, 14:19. 10. Kenai River, Engelkes (Larson), 14:19. Penalties — Wisconsin 3 for 6:00; Kenai River 2 for 4:00.
Shots on goal — Wisconsin 11-19-11—41; Kenai River 13-9-11—33.
Goalies — Wisconsin, Szyszka (33 shots, 31 saves); Kenai River, Zenone (22 shots, 18 saves), Ekblad (19 shots, 15 saves).
Cashen Naeve of the Wisconsin Windigo protects the puck from Dario Lass of the Kenai River Brown Bears on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Colten Nestler of the Kenai River Brown Bears and Cashen Naeve of the Wisconsin Windigo battle for the puck Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
