Fairbanks completes sweep of Wenatchee on Wednesday

Wenatchee 1 @ Fairbanks 3 – In front of yet another sold out crowd on Wednesday, the host Fairbanks Ice Dogs made another big statement as to who is top ‘dog’ in the West Division with a 3-1 win over the Wenatchee Wild to complete the mid-week sweep at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks, Alaska.  Jacob Barber put the Wild up 1-0 near the midpoint of the first period on a power-play goal. Barber scored on a one-timer when he cut into the slot from the far circle and nailed Ben Carey’s pass from the near faceoff dot. Chris Knudson also assisted. It was Barber’s first power-play goal since returning to the Wild last month.  The Ice Dogs bounced back in the second period with a pair of goals. Sean O’Rourke tied the contest, 1-1, a little more than two minutes into the stanza on a wrist shot from the near point during a 5-on-3 power play. Tayler Munson and Gabe Levin assisted.  Pavlo Padakin gave Fairbanks a 2-1 lead when he lit the lamp on a turnaround wrist shot from the left wing with 3:37 left in the second period. Pete Spratte and Max Birkinbine assisted.  The Wild had a tremendous opportunity to tie up the contest during a 5-on-3 power play to begin the third period, but the Ice Dogs killed the threat thanks to some sharp goaltending from Steve Perry. Fairbanks’ Jeff Earnest went on to notch an empty-netter to close out scoring. Birkinbine picked up his second assist of the game on the goal.  Steve Perry made 19 saves on 20 shots to earn the win. Robert Nichols stopped 21-of-23 shots but suffered his fifth loss of the season. Fairbanks scored one power-play goal on five chances while Wenatchee scored one man-advantage marker on four tries.  The Wild (24-15-5) will conclude their 6-game Alaskan road trip with a 2-game series against the Kenai River Brown Bears (23-18-2) on Friday and Saturday.  Fairbanks (28-10-7), who is in 1st place in the West Division will host the Topeka RoadRunners (31-13-2), who are in 2nd place in the South Division. Boxscore