FAIRBANKS— Make it 10 straight wins for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs.
The Ice Dogs scored three times in the third period to pull away from the Wenatchee Wild for their 10th straight win, a 4-1 decision on Thursday night at the Big Dipper Ice Area.
The winning streak is the longest in the North American Hockey League this season.
“It’s a different guy every single night that’s contributing it seems like,” head coach Trevor Stewart said. “Guys have been having fun with it and plying pretty loose and making some plays and as a result, you’re team’s usually pretty successful.”
Chandler Madry got third period scoring started at the 11:10 mark. Madry beat Wild goalie Michael Bullion with a wrist shot while on the power play.
The goal was Madry’s 10th of the season and fifth with the man advantage. His five power play tallies are tied for second in the league.
“We just know we have to win the next one to keep the streak alive. So we’ve been plying hard every game,” Gorowsky said of the streak. “We’ve had a couple good games, a couple bad ones but we’ve managed to win.”
The Ice Dogs (15-6-1) went 1 for 4 with the man advantage on Thursday. Fairbanks’ power play ranks third in the league at 23.81 percent.
Wenatchee was 1 for 5 on the power play.
Bullion made 29 saves for the Wild.
“We knew that if we won the period, we’d win the game,” Gorowsky said of the third period. “So we came out hard and managed to get a couple goals.”
After Brendan Harris got the Wild (5-9-4) on the board at the 12:22 mark, the Ice Dogs responded 18 seconds later.
Todd Burgess regained the two-goal lead by poking a rebound past Bullion, from Anchorage.
Madry had an assist on Burgess’ goal, giving him a league-leading 33 points in 22 games.
“We had an OK first period. I thought we were a little sluggish in the second. But our guys, they like to score goals and they showed up and made a couple plays in the third period,” Stewart said.
Ethan Somoza sealed the win with his 12th goal of the season with less than five minutes left in the game.
Somoza is tied with Jacob Hetz for the team lead.
The Ice Dogs and Wild continue their three-game series today and tomorrow at the Big Dipper Ice Arena. Both games are slated to start at 7:30 p.m.
“I think it’s important that we play tough, disciplined and we kind of continue where we left off from tonight,” Stewart said.
Madry, Somoza, Ryner Gorowsky and Hans Gorowsky each had multi-point nights for the Ice Dogs.
“Wenatchee is a good team so we know we have to play hard,” Gorowsky said. “Just come out hard, have a good couple of first shifts and play them hard, finish our checks and get some shots on net.”
After a scoreless first period, Ryner Gorowsky got the Ice Dogs on the board at 10:56 of the second period. Gorowsky fired a slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle two seconds after an Ice Dogs power play had expired.
Somoza and Hans Gorowsky had the assists on the goal, which was Ryner’s sixth of the season.
Patrick Munson made 24 saves for the Ice Dogs, who are tied with the Topeka Road Runners for the most points in the NAHL this season.
The Ice Dogs held a moment of silence before the game for Randy Proffitt, who passed away on Monday. Randy was the father of Ice Dogs general manager Rob Proffitt and served as the team’s equipment manager, assistant coach and mentor to the players.
Contact sports reporter Tim O’Donnell at 459-7583. Follow him on Twitter:
@FDNMSportsGuy
