The regular season for the Kenai River Brown Bears in the Midwest Division of the NAHL, in-spite-of the adjustments and hardships in dealing with COVID-19 requirements and safety protocols, has opened with a pair of victories and solid efforts on the ice for the Brown Bears.
Kenai River stands at 2-0 in the regular season with a 5-3 victory on Thursday over the Chippewa Steel in the first game of a three-game road trip to the Chippewa Arena.
Kenai River 5 – Chippewa 3
Following a scoreless first period, Kenai River scored three, unanswered goals and never looked back, recording a 5-3 division victory over the Steel. A pair of Alaskan skaters set the tone with the first three goals of the contest.
The Brown Bears opened the scoring on a goal by Eagle River’s Brandon Lajoie. Lajoie recorded his second goal late in the second period and Anchorage’s Max Helgeson pushed the score to 3-0 with a goal in the final minute of the second period.
In the third period the Chippewa Steel made a charge at the Brown Bears scoring a pair of goals and closing the score to 3-2 Kenai River. Adam Szubert’s power-play goal gave the Brown Bears a two-goal cushion and a 4-2 lead. An empty-netter by Laudon Poellinger with :14 seconds remaining sealed the game at 5-3 Brown Bears.
Luke Pavicich recorded 31 saves on 34 shots and recorded his second win between the pipes for the Brown Bears.
The three-game series continues on Friday and Saturday, November 13-14 at the Chippewa Arena. Game times are scheduled for 4:10 AST and games are available on hockeytv.com (pay per view). Attendance at the Chippewa Ice Arena for Thursday’s contest dropped to 258 under strict covid protocols.
