Anchorage Wolverines make it 7 straight with shootout win over Kenai River

Heading into the season, Anchorage Wolverines head coach Nick Walters knew his team would be young and fairly inexperienced by North American Hockey League standards.

But Walters hoped if everything coalesced, the team would start to hit its stride over the second half of the season.

Heading into the final six weeks of the regular season, the Wolverines certainly appear to be clicking.

With a 3-2 shootout win over Kenai River on Friday, the Wolverines pushed their winning streak to seven straight and continued to dominate in-state competition.

“We knew there was going to be some growing pains,” Walters said. “Guys have to learn how to play at this level. It’s faster. It’s more physical. Typically, it’s an older league. So this is kind of where we were hoping we’d peak and it’s always nice when the plan goes well.”

The Wolverines controlled the puck and had the best of scoring chances throughout the game, but couldn’t put the game away until Arvega Hovsepyan notched the only goal of the shootout to secure their win.

Despite not being able to hold leads in regulation, Walters said winning that type of game could still be valuable.

“These are good experiences for these guys to go through,” he said. “And I think that’s just going to build us up and build a better team as we go along here and to fine-tune the way we want to play going into playoffs.”

The win maintained Anchorage’s third-place position in the Midwest Division as the team is firmly in the playoff race with four teams advancing from the division.

Romulus Riego De Dios gave the Wolverines a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal assisted by Cole Frawner and Danny Bagnole.

Kenai’s Samuel Sisik tied the game at 1-1 in the second period with a power-play goal. But the Wolverines took a 2-1 lead into the third period as Hovsepyan smashed a slap shot from the left circle.

Hovsepyan was a recent addition to the Wolverines, added right before the NAHL roster freeze from the Surrey Eagles of the British Columbia Hockey League. He has only played seven games but has made major contributions with six goals and three assists.

“It was just one of those things where he wanted to play more and we had that opportunity for him,” Walter said. ”We were looking to bolster our lineup to make a playoff run. And I tell you what, he’s been awesome. He’s been exactly what we were hoping for.”

The Wolverines’ 2-1 lead was short-lived as Kenai’s Kotaro Tsutsumi made it 2-2 with a goal, slipping the puck past Anchorage goalie Liam Beerman after a rush up the left side at 8:57 of the third period.

Neither team could muster another goal in regulation of the 3-on-3 overtime period. And Beerman was stellar in the shootout, stopping all four attempts by skaters from the Brown Bears.

Kenai goalie Marks Slavinskis-Repe was equally as effective until Hovsepyan found the net in the fourth attempt from Anchorage.

The win helped Anchorage continue to pile up points in the Club 49 Cup race, a championship the team has already secured. Anchorage has 27 points compared to just 10 each from Kenai River and Fairbanks.

“It’s been an accumulation of just showing up every day, doing the right things, and trying to be a little bit better each day,” Walters said of the team’s recent stellar play. “Just coming to the rink with a purpose.”

Anchorage put 53 shots on goal Friday compared to just 29 for Kenai.

The two teams will travel to Soldotna on Saturday to complete the weekend series with the puck set to drop at 7:30 p.m.