The trio of Kevin Marx Noren, Brady Welsch and Alexander Malinowski propelled the Fairbanks Ice Dogs to a 4-3 shootout win over the Anchorage Wolverines the Ben Boeke Arena on Friday night following a scoreless overtime period.
In the first matchup of the two-game weekend series, Midwest Division leading Fairbanks (65 league points) and third-place Anchorage (51 league points) traded a goals within a minute of each other of the first period. The Ice Dogs outscored the Wolverines 2-1 in the second period before Anchorage forced overtime in the third with a goal from Cameron Morris that was assisted by Clay Allen and Cooper Morris with 11:08 left in regulation.
One of the deciding factors in this game was Fairbanks’ ability to capitalize when they had a numbers advantage on the ice. The Ice Dogs took full advantage by scoring goals on three power-play chances while Anchorage squandered all of its chances.
Ice Dogs goaltender Kayden Hargraves improved his record to 19-7-1-1 by stopping 29 of the 32 shots that came his way while Wolverines goalie, Raythan Robbins fell to 15-4-3-2 after coming up with 21 saves on 24 shots.
The two teams will meet again tonight with face-off set to happen at 7 p.m. at Ben Boeke. With the win, Fairbanks extended its winning streak against Anchorage to five games in a row with an opportunity to make it a half a dozen if they complete the series sweep.