Zach Homer scored three times Saturday night to spearhead a Wilderness comeback win and make history by becoming the franchise’s all-time career scoring leader.
With the Anchorage Wolverines leading 2-0 midway through the second period, Homer took charge of the game, scoring a power play goal with 9:39 left in the frame. That was followed by the squad scoring three more times over the next 4:42 and then twice more in the third to beat the Wolverines, 6-2.
Homer also posted tallies later in the 2nd and in the game’s final minute for his second hat trick of the season. Those three red lighters bumped his season goal total to 30, which gives him 52 in his Wilderness career, passing the previous career regular season scoring mark of 51 set by Darian Romanko over two seasons from 2013-15.
The victory allowed the Wilderness to split the 2-game weekend series, following Anchorage’s 3-1 win Friday. It also allowed Minnesota (32-8-4) to maintain its grip on first place in the NAHL’s Midwest Division as the Wilderness remain 11 points ahead of the second-place Fairbanks Ice Dogs.
Minnesota will close its 6-game February home stand this Friday and Saturday. The Wilderness entertain the Kenai River Brown Bears in a two-game series at Northwoods Credit Union Arena, with both games set to start at 7:15 p.m.
Friday: Anchorage 3, Wilderness 1
Despite putting up 41 shots on goal, the Wilderness could only score once in Friday’s series opener.
Minnesota outshot the Wolverines 41-23 and had a 1-0 lead for most of the game, thanks to Robinson Djian’s tally 3:30 into the opening period. Djian knocked in a rebound for his 10 th goal of the season, with assists going to Avery Anderson and Max Edwards.
The Wilderness went on to outshoot Anchorage in each period, with 20 shots generated on Wolverine netminder Kai Weigel in the third frame. Weigel did not let anything else get past him, as he finished with 40 saves to lead his team to victory.
Anchorage tied the game with a goal from Balint Lobenwein with 2:31 left in the second and then took the lead when Tyler Bydal scored 3:35 into the third.
Bydal scored an unassisted goal after stripping the puck from Wilderness forward Zach Homer in front of the Minnesota net and then immediately whipped a shot past goaltender Valdemar Andersen. Bydal and Homer entered the weekend as the top two scorers in the Midwest Division, with Bydal at 28 goals and Homer at 27.
Sam Evert completed the Wolverine scoring with an empty-net marker with less than one second on the clock.
Valdemar Andersen took the loss for the Wilderness, making 20 saves on 22 shots.
The Wilderness finished 0-for-5 on the power play, while its penalty kill kept Anchorage scoreless on two chances.
One goal is the lowest offensive effort of the season for the Wilderness. The last time Minnesota was held to less than two goals was 47 games ago, going back to April 3, 2025, when they fell to the Janesville Jets, 2-1.
Minnesota also spent most of the game without forward and leading scorer Noah Dziver. Dziver suffered an upper-body injury in the first period that sent him to the locker room and kept him out of the lineup on Saturday.
The loss was Minnesota’s first in regulation in 2026 and snapped a run of 15 straight games in which the Wilderness registered at least a point. It also was Minnesota’s first home loss since Nov. 21, ending a run of eight consecutive wins.
Saturday: Wilderness 6, Anchorage 2
Midway through regulation of the Saturday rematch, things were looking bleak for the home team. Luc Bydal scored with 12:49 left in the second period to give Anchorage a 2-0 lead (following a 1 st period goal from Chase Trompeter), and the Wolverines were outshooting and pinning the Wilderness back in their own end for most of the contest’s first half. Meanwhile, their goaltender Kai Weigel was playing as strong as he was Friday night.
A power play goal from Zach Homer changed everything.
The veteran forward scored his first of what ended up being three in the game on the power play with 9:39 left in the second. Homer sent a backhand from the bottom of the left circle that appeared to be a pass headed to Andrei Gudin, who was positioned at the right post, but instead crept across the goal line to cut the Wolverine advantage to 2-1. Theo Kiss and Landon Cottingham assisted on the goal.
The giant was awakened. And it was hungry for more.
1:10 later, Avery Anderson tied the game. Anderson notched his 11th of the season with a shot from the slot after receiving a centering pass from Caleb Kim.
1:50 later, the Wilderness took the lead. Homer deposited his second of the night after receiving a pass from Jackson Reeves. As he skated through the neutral zone, Homer used the right boards to pass the puck to himself as he rocketed past a defender. The from the bottom of the right circle, Homer slipped the puck under the Weigel’s pads for his 51st career goal which tied the franchise’s regular season record.
1:42 later, a short-handed goal gave Minnesota insurance. Logan Nagle and Anthony Capello skated into the Wolverines end on a 2-on-1. After a shot from Nagle was rejected by Weigel, Capello fired in the rebound for his eighth of the campaign to make the score 4-2.
In the third period, Minnesota tacked on two more. First, Cayden Neice beat Weigel on a shot from the high slot for his 2nd of the season with 3:25 left in regulation – with assists going to Reeves and Capello.
Homer then completed the scoring in the final minute. His hat trick tally came with 46 seconds left on a breakaway. After receiving a pass from Capello at neutral ice, Homer skated up the middle and fired a shot that Weigel first appeared to stop, but instead, the puck hopped off his right shoulder and into the net.
Joseph Lugar also assisted on the history-making goal, which also moved Homer to a tie with Bydal as the Midwest Division’s top scorer, and second leading scorer in the NAHL.
On top of that, Homer was credited with scoring the game-winning goal, which gives him nine on the season and sets another Wilderness single-season record.
Minnesota outshot Anchorage 26-24. Wilderness goaltender Ryan Gerlich earned the win in net making 22 saves. Weigel took the loss with 20 stops.
Both teams had six chances on the power play. Minnesota was successful once while its penalty kill kept Anchorage scoreless.