The postgame noise from the lockerrooms in the Big Dipper Ice Arena offered an indication of which team is in trouble and which team is on the verge of wrapping up the North American Hockey League’s West Division Championship Series.
The Ice Dogs lockerroom was mostly quiet after a 3-1 loss to the Wenatchee Wild on Friday night in Game 3 of their best-of-five series. The Wild’s lockerroom was boisterous.
The Ice Dogs, with a second-period goal from Lawrence Cornellier and 30 saves from goaltender Steve Perry, need to win in Game 4 tonight to force a deciding contest on Tuesday in Wenatchee, Wash.
If the Ice Dogs lose, their season ends and the Wild move on to the Robertson Cup Tournament on May 10-13 in Frisco, Texas. The Ice Dogs appeared in the last three Robertson Cup tournaments, capturing the title in 2011 after being runners-up in 2010.
“The team as a whole has to get better,” Cornellier said. “It’s the same situation as Kenai. Our backs are against the wall and we have to do whatever it takes.”
Fairbanks head coach Trevor Stewart is hoping the Ice Dogs play tonight as they did April 22 in the Dipper.
That night, the Ice Dogs won the fifth game of a first-round series against the Kenai River Brown Bears, prevailing 3-2 after scoring all its goals in the third period.
“Obviously what they learned (from that game) is they can do it,” Stewart said.
“I have faith in them, the town has faith in them and they just need to look in the mirror and have faith in themselves. I think they will come out with a better performance (tonight).”
One thing that Wenatchee, led by two goals from Jono Davis and 26 saves from Robert Nichols, did better than Fairbanks on Friday was win more puck battles in the corners and behind the nets.
“It’s no secret that after 15 or 14 games, or whatever many we played against each other, we like to possess the puck,” said Wild assistant coach Chris Clark. “We like to get puck down low and make plays off the cycle down low.”
Stewart, in the postgame lockerroom, told the Ice Dogs that to win the war, they’ve got to win the battles.
“We just talked about it in the lockerroom, we didn’t win enough battles,” Stewart said. “We weren’t committed enough to the individual battles that it’s going to take for our team to be successful.”
Building pressure and stepping up its transition against the Wild in the second period helped Fairbanks find the back of the net after it fell behind 2-0.
Cornellier gained Nick Hinz’s pass from a battle on the boards behind Perry. At 16:47 of the second, Cornellier burst up the right wing and got Nichols to commit before tucking in his third goal and team-high eighth point of the postseason.
“I was thinking of a different move before I got there and I changed my mind for a second,” Cornellier said.
“Once I saw that he shifted over to my backhand, I tried to switch it back to my forehand to put it in.”
Davis, with an assist from Chris Jones, made a nifty move on Ice Dogs defenseman Duggie Lagrone for the game’s first goal. Davis skated near the top of the right circle, chipped the puck between Lagrone’s skates and retrieved it to flip a high shot past Perry at 5:16 of the first period.
Davis made it 2-0 at 1:21 into the second period, one-timing in Joshua Hartley’s crossing pass during a two-man power play. Jacob Barber also assisted on Davis’ fourth postseason goal.
Chris Jones sealed the Wild’s win with an empty-net goal with 26 seconds left in the third period, aided by Sean Sullivan.
The Ice Dogs had several scoring opportunities in the third period but were outshot 11-5.
Though Wenatchee’s lockerroom was louder than Fairbanks’, the postgame celebration didn’t linger on the eve of Game 4.
“Right now, we’re really excited and happy; but hopeful in 20 minutes things will come down and we will refocus,” Davis said.
The Ice Dogs plan to do likewise tonight.
“Unfortunately we fell short (Friday),” Stewart said.
“Fortunately, we know we can play a lot better and we know we’re in the same exact situation as the last (first-round) series.”
Wenatchee won 1-0 in Game 1 of the divisional series last Friday in Washington and the Ice Dogs bounced backed last Saturday with a 4-3 win.
Contact staff writer Danny Martin at 459-7586.
