Wolverines notch weekend sweep of Brown Bears

The Anchorage Wolverines swept the Kenai River Brown Bears on Friday and Saturday in North American Hockey League play.

Host Anchorage won 3-2 in overtime on Friday, then spoiled Kenai River’s home opener with a 3-0 victory Saturday at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex.

The Bears (5-5-1-0) are now tied for sixth place in the tight Midwest Division. The Janesville (Wisconsin) Jets lead with 14 points, while the Chippewa (Wisconsin) Steel, Wisconsin Windigo, Wolverines (5-2-2-0) and Minnesota Wilderness all have 12 points. The Bears and Fairbanks Ice Dogs each have 11 points, while the Springfield (Illinois) Jr. Blues have two points.

The Bears host the Wilderness, who are fresh off a sweep in Fairbanks, in a one-game series Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the sports complex.

Saturday, Kenai River head coach Taylor Shaw said a big crowd, including a pack of Anchorage supporters, watched as Oliver Salo gave the Wolverines a 1-0 lead just 2 minutes, 50 seconds into the game.

“They scored pretty early and the crowd stayed with it,” Shaw said. “When it’s 1-0 for a period and a half, we have to do our part and find a way to capitalize.

“We had our chances, but we didn’t find the back of the net.”

With 4:44 left in the second period, former Brown Bears player Bryce Monrean scored for his hometown team for a 2-0 lead. With 2:25 left in the third, Kade Shea finished off the scoring.

Liam Beerman made 20 saves for the shutout for Anchorage, while Peter Wickstrom Stumer stopped 28 for the Bears.

“We generated quite a few scoring chances, but we couldn’t solve Beerman,” Shaw said. “Part of that is we have to create our own puck luck and do a better job on the scoring chances.

Shaw said the game was very chippy, with Anchorage racking up 33 minutes in penalties and a game misconduct, while Kenai River had 29 minutes and two game misconducts.

This was Shaw’s first chance to see a team built for speed on the large ice of the sports complex.

“Overall, it looked OK,” he said. “We’re going to work pretty hard this week to continue to build on it, and find ways to use the group’s speed on the big sheet.”

With the road trip to Anchorage and a week spent on the Kenai Peninsula, Shaw said his team also is appreciating Alaska.

“Most have been able to see caribou and moose,” he said. “It’s all about the Alaska experience. They’ve heard about it, now they get to experience it firsthand.”

Friday, the Bears earned their fifth point in their last five games — all on the road — but Shaw was not happy with the way the team played in those contests.

Shaw said the team has had very little offensive zone forecheck.

“It’s hard to continue to take attack after attack when you’re not playing any offense,” he said. “We’re getting a couple chances and looks a game and we’re capitalizing on them.

“When you don’t sustain zone pressure in the offensive zone, it’s going to wear you out a little more.”

Kenai River was up 1-0 after the first period after Andy Larson scored on an assist from Cade Baker.

After a scoreless second period, there was a flurry of scoring in the third period.

Taisetsu Ushio tied it for Anchorage with 13:29 left in the third, but Roope Tuomioksa, assisted by Dylan Contreras and Joe Manning, gave the Bears the lead back at the 12:42 mark.

Just 41 seconds later, Anchorage had it tied at 2 when Tyler Hennen scored.

With 4:07 left in overtime, Soldotna’s Trent Powell scored the game-winner.

Beerman made 26 saves on 28 shots for the Wolverines, while Stumer had 34 saves on 37 shots for the Bears.