Blaine, Minnesota | 9/14/23 | Isaac Smoldon
For the second time in as many nights, the Anchorage Wolverines were taken into overtime at the NAHL showcase. Thursday night’s result differed from Wednesday’s however, as the Wolverines beat the New Mexico Ice Wolves 2-1 thanks to Blake Markwell’s first junior goal. Jozef Zillinec was in net again for Anchorage, and had 16 saves in the win.
The Wolverines scored just 3:43 into the opening period, with Oliver Salo notching his second goal of the season thanks to a stellar Fyodor Nikolayenya pass from down low in the corner. Anchorage had several other chances to score in the frame, but were held to a single goal thanks to several excellent saves from New Mexico netminder Jackson Fuller.
The Ice Wolves would even the game 30 seconds after the middle period’s opening faceoff, off of a 2-1 rush that Yusaku Ando capitalized on. This would be the last goal scored during regulation, in part due to the stellar play by both netminders. The Wolverines would head into overtime tied at one goal apiece, despite outshooting their opponents 35-16 through 60 minutes.
New Mexico had a couple early chances in OT, but Anchorage made no mistake on their first rush of the extra frame. Michael Marquez slid a pass over to Markwell on a partial break, who tapped in his own rebound to win the game for the Wolverines, while also potting his first junior goal.
Anchorage will play again tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. AKDT, this time against the New Hampshire Mountain Kings of the East division. The Mountain Kings are in their first NAHL
season, and have yet to win their first game thanks to two showcase losses. The Wolverines’ and New Hampshire’s match can be watched exclusively at nahltv.com
