Days away from his 21st birthday, Cole Frawner found himself in a hockey place he hadn’t been since he was a kid.

The Anchorage Wolverines captain and local product had already bagged a pair of goals Thursday night. His team clung to a 4-3 advantage when his continued hustle in the attacking zone gifted him a penalty shot opportunity against Kenai River goaltender Andrew McLouth (Battle Creek, Mich.).

“The last (penalty shot) came maybe when I was 14, no, no, make that 12, definitely 12,” Frawner said from the Sullivan Arena hallway, a few strides away from the ice surface. “It had been a super-long shift already and I was super tired, but at that moment the main thing you’re trying to do is block out all the noise.”

Frawner moved down the right side, made a few dangles and McLouth just got a skate on the puck to thwart the isolated Hat Trick try. No bother as the Wolverines managed to escape with their second consecutive North American Hockey League victory by that same 4-3 count over their in-state rivals.

Anchorage improved to 4-0-0 against Kenai River heading into Friday’s home-and-home weekend rematch in Soldotna. The teams – each currently out of NAHL Midwest Division playoff position – meet eight more times before the 60-game Junior A, Tier II regular season ends in April. The Brown Bears made the frigid 147-mile bus ride down to Kenai Peninsula right away when temperatures hovered in the negative-teens. It’s expected the Wolverines would make the trek Friday afternoon when it’s anyone’s guess what Mother Nature has in store for Southcentral.

Back at Sullivan after 43 days away, the Wolverines (15-14-4) delighted the announced crowd of 3,534 despite blowing a two-goal lead in the third period. Kenai River forward Braden Hansberger (Elk River, Minn.) tied the game 3-3 when he took a bump in the slot before finding a piece of open ice and beating Anchorage goalie Kai Weigel (Bismarck, N.D.) at 5 minutes, 52 seconds of the final period.

Wolverines rookie Leon Buzek (Wien, Austria) broke the tie with the game-winning goal at 12:00 of the third. The 18-year-old briefly pinned the puck against the lower right backside of the net’s pipe behind McLouth (27 saves). He sprung out to McLouth’s left and stuffed a shot inside the post. The goal was Buzek’s fourth of the season.

Earlier, Frawner scored his season’s fifth and sixth goals to spot Anchorage a 2-0 edge. He blazed through the neutral zone and delivered a short-handed goal at 4:56 of the second. He’s scored three times in Anchorage’s last four games and four times in the last nine times out.

Weigel sparkled early and hung tough to earn the win behind 31 saves. The Wolverines won 5-1 at Chippewa (Wisc.) on Saturday after Palmer’s Drake Owens stopped 30 shots.

Anchorage will need to rely on stalwart goaltending while also finding a few new gears if it wants to make the playoffs for a fourth time in the franchise’s five seasons. The 34 points and .531 winning percentage are a far cry from where the Wolverines resided after 32 games the last two seasons, which both included at least one Robertson Cup playoff series win.

Last season, Anchorage sat at 21-8-3 (45 points, .703 winning percentage) after 32 games. It was 18-10-4 (40, .687) in 2023-24.

“Looking at the first half (of this season), we were trying to figure everything out,” Frawner said. “The second half is where the heart comes in and the want. It’s going to be a real game changer for us.

“We’ll show that heart and get some wins.”

The Wolverines now sit five standings points out of a postseason berth. Kenai River dropped to 11-20-1 after Thursday’s loss.

ONE-TIMERS

• The Thursday night crowd included a fair share of no-shows, folks who likely chose to stay home wisely buried under blankets. Arena DJ Joe Brady keenly addressed those who didn’t make it out with Kenny Rogers’ “Coward of the County.” Through 14 Sullivan home games, the Wolverines have averaged 3,247 spectators. Fourteen more regular-season Sullivan games remain.
• A pair of Anchorage kids made their NAHL debuts with Kenai River. Forward Baylor Berg, 18, and Dawson Norene, 17 wore Brown Bears Nos. 5 and 25, respectively. Neither skater registered a point. Both part of the Team Alaska comp program, Berg spent most of the last three seasons playing Outside. Norene familiarized himself with the local hockey community by racking up 16 Cook Inlet Conference points as a South High freshman and sophomore a few seasons ago.
• Casey Bailey’s father Glen worked Thursday’s Wolverines game as an off-ice official all while the 11-year professional continued his second stint this season as the ECHL (AA-level) player of the week. Bailey, 34, totaled three goals and four assists last week for the Tahoe (Nev.) Knight Monsters. He enters the ECHL weekend tied for fourth in league scoring with 33 points in 33 games. Bailey also won the ECHL honor the week of Oct. 17.