Magicians, Ice Dogs close out November with wins

December 1, 2017

MN Magicians 3 @ Coulee Region 2 – The Minnesota Magicians moved into sole possession of 3rd place in the Midwest Division with a 3-2 road win at Coulee Region on Thursday night, handing the Chill their 5th straight loss. After a scoreless 1st period, the Magicians’ Davis Kirkendall skated in — untouched — and beat Emil Zetterquist top shelf after taking a perfect pass from Valentino Passarelli. The way the game was being played in such a defense-first way, Kirkendall’s goal was big. Less than 3 minutes later, Cameron Buhl made it 2-0 and the Chill seemed in a hole that was seemingly too deep to climb out of. Tyler Ebner changed that when he beat Magicians’ goalkeeper Isaiah Saville at the 12:31 mark, cutting Minnesota’s lead in half. Tomas Vochozka knotted the game at 2-2 at the 8:35 mark in the 3rd period. Vochozka blew into the Magicians’ zone, abruptly put on the brakes, then unleashed a wicked shot that seemed to catch Minnesota goalie Isaiah Saville a bit by surprise. Minnesota’s Calvin Dybicz changed things in a big-time way when he rushed down the center of the ice, right at Zetterquist and fired a rocket that beat Zetterquist for what proved to be the game-winner at the 6:18 mark. Saville made 39 saves in the win, while Zetterquist made 28 saves in the loss. Boxscore

 

Kenai River 3 @ Fairbanks 6 – Three goals in the 3rd period broke a 3-3 tie as the Ice Dogs continued their dominance of the Brown Bears this season with a 6-3 win on home ice on Thursday. The first period was like a ping pong match. The Fairbanks Ice Dogs and Kenai River Brown Bears swapped goals until they went to their dressing rooms for the first intermission tied at 3-3. The Ice Dogs saw a 3-1 lead slip away during the first period. After Daniel Haider gave Fairbanks a 1-0 lead only 2:52 into the contest, Kenai River’s Zach Krajnik evened the score at the 8:58 mark.  Minutes later, Hunter Wendt netted a power-play goal 13:08 into the frame, and Fairbanks native Tyler Deweese also beat Artur Pavilukov to extend the Ice Dogs’ lead to 3-1 only 30 seconds after Wendt tickled the twine. Brown Bears player Luke Radetic and Joseph Allegrini both bested Ice Dogs goalie Josh Benson within a minute from each other, as the teams went into the locker room with three goals apiece. Jack Johnston netted the game-winner 2:26 into the third period when he beat Kenai River goaltender Artur Pavilukov on a wraparound from behind the net.  The St. Paul, Minnesota, native’s goal sparked an Ice Dogs rally, as Erkka Vanska scored 17:31 into the period before Kyle Mayhew put an exclamation point on the win with an empty-net goal at the 18:41 mark. Benson made 18 saves in the win, while Pavilukov made 36 saves in the loss. Boxscore