FAIRBANKS, ALASKA- The hottest team in the North American Hockey League swept its way past the Kenai River Brown Bears over the weekend. The Ice Dogs posted a 2-0 win on Friday, and backed it up with a 3-2 win on Saturday to secure four Alaska Airlines Club 49 Cup points and extend their winning streak to seven games. The Dogs are alone in first place in the NAHL Midwest Division (both points and winning percentage) with a 22-1-3-0 record.
Kayden Hargraves stopped all 25 shots that came his way for his third shutout of the season Friday night. Fairbanks opened the scoring late in the first period with a goal from Noah Wood. Colin Goff went coast to coast to score the insurance goal midway through the third period in the 2-0 victory.
Fairbanks jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals in the first period from Justin Biraben and Brady Welsch. Kenai River cut the lead down to 2-1 with a second period goal from Ben Monson. A third period power play goal from Billy Renfrew proved to be the game-winner and his 100th point in the NAHL. Hargraves made 33 saves to backstop the Ice Dogs to a 3-2 win over the Brown Bears.
The four Club 49 Cup points earned over the weekend, inches the Dogs closer to the Anchorage Wolverines who lead the season-long battle for hockey supremacy in Alaska.
The Ice Dogs now prepare for a 3-game series against the surging Wisconsin Windigo. The series will serve as the 2023 stick it to cancer weekend, where the Ice Dogs join forces with the Greater Fairbanks Community Hospital Foundation to honor cancer survivors and raise awareness and funding for cancer programs in the Interior. The Ice Dogs will wear commemorative uniforms that will be auctioned off during intermissions over the weekend.
