After getting swept by the homestanding Kenai River Brown Bears in mid-November, the Anchorage Wolverines returned to Soldotna over the weekend and evened a score with a sweep of a North American Hockey League series.
The Wolverines prevailed 3-2 Friday with a stunning third-period comeback at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex, then seized a 5-2 victory Saturday, courtesy in part to Trent Powell, their defenseman from Soldotna who throttled his hometown team.
Kenai River led 2-1 in Friday’s final minute before Anchorage subdued a crowd of 2,231. Wolverines forward Aiden Westin of Anchorage delivered the game-tying, extra-attacker goal with 57 seconds remaining. Then the UAF commit authored the game-winning strike just 33 seconds later off assists from the Morris twins, Cooper and Cameron, of Anchorage.
Saturday’s game was tied 2-2 deep in the second period before Powell pierced his hometown team. The Long Island University commit struck twice on the power play in a span of 1:52 to give Anchorage a 4-2 cushion. Powell, who owns 5-6—11 totals in 24 games, has been particularly tough in his hometown. He also had an assist Saturday to mark his first two-goal game and first three-point game on the circuit. He also furnished an assist Friday and has nearly half his points this season – 3-2—5 – in four road games against Kenai River.
Westin, who generated two assists Saturday to notch his third straight two-point game and boost his point streak to five games (3-5—8) sits fourth in league scoring with 13-17—30 totals in 26 games.
Kenai River defenseman Caleb Huffman of Anchorage, a UAA commit, bagged two helpers Saturday to pump his season totals to 3-12—15 in 27 games. That ties him for 12th in scoring among league defensemen. Also tied for 12th are Wolverines defensemen Clay Allen of Anchorage (3-12—15 in 26 games) and Cooper Morris (1-14—15 in 25 games).
UAA commit Bryant Marks of Wasilla made 20 saves on 24 shots before getting the hook for Kenai River deep in the second period. Still, he sports strong season numbers – 6-4-0, 2.23 goals-against average and .927 save percentage.
The Wolverines have snatched a cushion in the Club 49 Cup standings that reflect the season’s results in head-to-head games between Alaska’s three NAHL entries:
Fairbanks (15-11-3 overall), which sits second in the eight-team Midwest Division, was swept on the road against the Chippewa Steel over the weekend, succumbing 6-3 and 4-3.
Friday, Ice Dogs forward Billy Renfrew of Fairbanks scored one goal and assisted on another to tie Westin for the longest points streak in the league this season at 10 games. He was held off the scoresheet Saturday to halt his heater, but teammate Cameron Ricotta had one goal and one assist to push his points streak to 10.
Ice Dogs forward Colin Goff of Wasilla scored a goal for Fairbanks on Friday.
While the Ice Dogs sit second in the Midwest as the season nears the halfway mark, Kenai River (15-11-1) holds fourth place and Anchorage (11-10-5) ranks sixth. The top four teams in the division qualify for the Robertson Cup playoffs.
The three Alaska teams have something of a head-scratcher in common – they have all been substantially better on the road than at home. Anchorage is 8-4-4 on the road, but just 3-6-1 at home. Fairbanks is 9-4-1 on the road and 6-7-2 at home. And Kenai River is 9-1-0 on the road and 6-10-1 at home.
Anchorage and Kenai River clash again Friday and Saturday at Ben Boeke Ice Arena in Anchorage while Fairbanks has an idle week.