Alaska News Article

Ghost of road trip past haunts Ice Dogs

By ERIC GOOLD, Staff Writer

The penalty killing unit for the Wasilla Junior A hockey team was not in the holiday spirit on Friday night.
The hometown Fairbanks Ice Dogs converted only one of eight power-play opportunities and Wasilla beat the Dogs 3-1, claiming the Spirit's first North American Hockey League win in the Big Dipper Ice Arena.

In a hectic postgame scene outside the locker rooms at the Dipper, Spirit head coach Dean Larson said that the intrastate rivalry between Wasilla and Fairbanks is alive and kicking.

"It definitely is," said Larson after Spirit assistant captain Reed Lally was treated for a nasty gash on his face sustained when he was clipped by a Fairbanks high stick at the end of the contest.

"We didn't like the fact that we hadn't won here," said Larson. "We challenged the guys to get a win in this building and they rose to that challenge."

Wasilla took command with an early 2-0 lead after the Dogs came out flat in the first one-and-a-half periods.

"You get sick and tired of guys making excuses, hearing that we were tired from the road trip," said Ice Dogs head coach Rob Proffitt. The Dogs completed a 5-2-1 road trip through Montana with a 6-5 win at Billings on Wednesday, before returning home to the Dipper on Friday night for the first time in six weeks.

"It shouldn't be that way. At this level, guys who want to play college hockey should be better prepared," said Proffitt. "It was a painful lesson to learn, that was a four-point swing tonight. But hopefully the lesson was learned."

Wasilla took the two-goal lead after scores by Trevor Tolibas in the first period and Miikka Keskitalo in the second. David Gault, Taylor Sutherland and Jesse Bryant all recorded assists for Wasilla.

Fairbanks made it a game when AJ Hau scored on the power play with 3:37 left in the second session. Brendan Olinyk assisted. After that, Wasilla goalie Andrew Volkening was a stone wall between the pipes.

"They say that your best penalty killer is your goalie," said Larson. "He made the saves we needed. We did take some penalties, but the guys we put out there made some adjustments and kept their scorers pushed to the outside."

Volkening made 37 saves in the win, none more important than during a four-minute power play for Fairbanks late in the third period.

"Give credit to Wasilla," said Proffitt. "They got great goaltending and they killed the penalties. They jammed up the ice and clogged things up in the middle. They were opportunistic when they had to be."

Gault got some late insurance for Wasilla when his second effort just trickled over the goal line before Dogs netminder Shane Madolora could glove the biscuit. Tolibas and Richard Leitner assisted the last goal of the game with 1:28 remaining.

Madolora recorded 26 saves in the loss. Wasilla was 0 for 5 on the power play and improved its third-place record in the NAHL West Division to 16-18-0. Fairbanks remained in second but slipped to 16-12-4.

The same two teams play tonight at the Dipper at 7:30.

"I'm curious to see how our guys respond," said Proffitt. "We've got to find a way to get those two points and even things out. We've got to go into Christmas on a winning note.