Wenatchee, Kenai River split series

SOLDOTNA, Alaska. - The Kenai River Brown Bears, led by goaltender Mathias Dahlstrom who made 40 saves, defeated the Wenatchee Wild Wednesday night, 3-1. The win gave Kenai River a split in its mid-week 2-game series against the Wild, which won the first game of the series on Tuesday in overtime.

Matt Thompson gave the Brown Bears an early 1-0 lead 4:31 into the contest when he tapped in a loose puck in front of the Wild cage. Brandon Fisher and Sean Muller assisted. Ben Carey (Centennial, Colo.) evened the score, 1-1, at the 10:20 mark on a nice individual effort. After entering the offensive zone Carey stickhandled around a defenseman, then scored 5-hole on a backhander for his 16th goal and 39th point of the season. Tyler Hope (McKinney, Texas) and Cody von Rueden (Northbrook, Ill.) earned the assists.

 Kenai River held a 2-1 lead at the first intermission after capitalizing on its only power-play chance of the evening with 5:19 left in the opening stanza. Brad Duwe notched the power-play goal on a shot from the slot off of Brett Lubanski's pass from the goal line. Doug Beck also assisted.

The Wild (29-20-3) could not take advantage of four power-play chances in the second period, including one 2-man opportunity, and still trailed the Brown Bears 2-1 heading into the final 20 minutes of play. Dahlstrom made 25 saves in the second period to keep the Wild off the scoreboard.

In the third frame, Kyle Keenan tapped in an insurance goal for Kenai River with 6:20 remaining in regulation. Dominic Granato and Jesse Ramsey were credited with the assists.

 Dahlstrom stopped 40 of the 41 shots he faced. Greg Lewis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) turned away 19-of-22 shots. Wenatchee was 0-for-5 on the power play while Kenai River scored on its only man-advantage.

The Wild's Alaskan road trip will conclude with a two-game series against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs  tonight and Saturday. Both games are scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. (PST).