Wilderness Look to Extend Winning Streak vs. Kenai and Anchorage

Who:  Minnesota Wilderness at Kenai River Brown Bears and Anchorage Wolverines

When: At Kenai on Friday, Oct. 13, 7:30 p.m. AKDT; at Anchorage on Saturday, Oct. 14, 7:00 p.m. AKDT    

Where:  Soldotna Regional Sports Center, Soldotna, AK and Ben Boeke Ice Arena, Anchorage, AK

The lead:  The Minnesota Wilderness carries a 4-game winning streak to Alaska’s southern coast for single games against the Brown Bears and Wolverines.

Media:  All of the action can be seen on nahltv.com.

Records: Kenai River: 11 games, 5-5-1, 11 points; Anchorage: 9 games, 5-2-2, 12 points; Minnesota: 10 games, 5-3-2, 12 points

Midwest Division Standings:

Last weekend:  Kenai and Anchorage played a home-and-home series last weekend with the Wolverines completing the weekend sweep.  In Anchorage, Friday, the Wolverines won 3-2 in overtime, and then shut out the Brown Bears, 3-0, Saturday in Soldotna.

The Wilderness came through with two wins in Fairbanks, winning in overtime Friday 4-3 on Friday, and in a shootout, 3-2 on Saturday.

 Season series: Friday’s game will be the first meeting of 2023-24 between the Wilderness and Brown Bears. Anchorage and Minnesota met in the Wilderness’ season-opener in Proctor on Sept. 9, with the Wolverines winning, 5-1.

 2022-23 season series with Kenai: Minnesota won 4-of-5 last season vs. the Brown Bears, and earned at least one point in all five meetings. The Wilderness won all three contests vs. Kenai in Soldotna, 2-1 on Nov. 5, and identical 4-1 victories on March 3-4.  The teams played a pair of shootout games in Cloquet on Jan. 6-7, with Minnesota winning 4-3 on Friday, and the Brown Bears taking a 1-0 decision on Saturday.  The two squads also met in the first round of the 2023 Robertson Cup playoffs, with the Wilderness winning the best-of-five series, 3-games-to-none.

 Depend on the “Dahminator” Part 2: Ashton Dahms continued his torrid pace that began in his first game since returning to the Wilderness on September 23. The Lakeville, MN, forward collected four points in the two games at Fairbanks, generating three goals and one assist.  Those numbers allowed Dahms to maintain a 2-point-per-game pace, with seven goals and three assists, for 10 points over 10 games.

Dardis Gets it Done: Ben Dardis got the nod in net in both games last weekend and earned a pair of firsts in his junior hockey career.  The 2^nd year goaltender from Mahtomedi, MN, was victorious in a shootout for the first time  Saturday, and winning both games on the weekend meant he also picked up his first series sweep. Dardis has won his last three starts, improving his record to 3-1 record, and he also holds a 2.53 GAA and .899 save percentage.

Unprecedented Comeback: The Wilderness accomplished something last Friday that no team in franchise history was able to do, and that was score twice with the goalie pulled to tie the game.  With Fairbanks up 3-1 in the late moments, Dardis was summoned to the bench, and the team responded.  Adam Johnson made it a one-goal deficit with 1:20 left, and Dahms followed by tying the game 38 seconds.  Dahms would score again overtime to win the game. 

Kenai/Anchorage Goalies Recognized: Kenai River netminder Peter Wickstrom announced his NCAA commitment this week.  The 19-year-old from Stockholm, SWE, has pledged to skate for Canisius University of Atlantic Hockey.  Wickstrom holds a 2-3-1 record with 3.25 GAA and .896 save percentage.

Anchorage goaltender Liam Beerman managed to get the better of Wickstrom in the two games the teams played last weekend.  Beerman’s efforts were good enough to earn him the Midwest Division’s second star of the week, when he led the Wolverines to the weekend home/home sweep.  The native of Marquette, MI,  stopped 26 of 28 in his squad’s 3-2 overtime win Friday, and then stopped all 20 shots he faced in a 3-0 victory Saturday.  Beerman’s improved his record to 3-1-1, and holds a 1.80 GAA and .936 save percentage.