The Chugiak Mustangs denied Eagle River's bid for the No. 2 seed in the Cook Inlet Conference hockey tournament by beating their rivals 4-1 Saturday night at the McDonald Center.
The loss makes Eagle River the No. 3 seed in the tournament, which begins Monday. Benefiting from Eagle River's setback was Dimond, which gained the No. 2 seed.
Andrew Beckett, John Hammer and Zachary Krajnik were Wolves killers. Beckett finished with four points (one goal, three assists), and Hammer and Krajnik each scored three points, with Hammer getting two goals and an assist and Krajnik getting one goal and two assists.
Chugiak led 1-0 after the first period and 4-0 after the second.
Eagle River avoided the shutout with Ben Rinckey's goal early in the third period.
Jack Walters made 19 save for Chugiak, and Trent Burnham had 21 for Eagle River.
The CIC tournament opens Monday with two games – top-seeded West against eighth-seeded Bartlett at 6:30 p.m. at Ben Boeke Arena, and No. 4 Chugiak against No. 5 Service at 7:15 at the McDonald Center.
On Tuesday, Eagle River will meet sixth-seeded South, and Dimond will play seventh-seeded East.