Eagle River teammates Dominic Thompson and Ben Russell ride an East High player off the puck during action at the McDonald Center Friday. The Wolves played well but didn't have an answer for East senior Ryan Luiten, who scored all of the T-Birds goals, during the visiting team's 6-4 victory. PHOTO by DAN SHEPARD

The Eagle River Wolves had one of its better offensive games, with four players scoring, but came away without the win, losing to East, 6-4, in action at the McDonald Center Friday.

After a week of second-semester finals, and a cancelled practice due to snowy weather, the team finished out the calendar year with a good performance against a formidable adversary - in East.

First-line forward Dacota Wood opened the scoring, giving the host Wolves a lead that remained for more than half of the first period, finishing on the assist pass from linemate Ben Russell at 3:24.

After a pair of East High tallies to finish out the first period, the Wolves tied the game, 2-2, only 17 seconds into the second period with Wood and Russell reversing the earlier scoring combination, with Russell finishing the honors this time.

The goal opened a flurry of scoring, with four goals in four minutes, with East coming out ahead, 4-3 at the end of the frame.

Eagle River's other goal was an unassisted offering from Hunter Gally as the forward skated hard alongside the right boards before snipping East keeper Justin Luiten with a laser over the goalie's left shoulder.

East High senior Ryan Luiten had a banner day accounting for all six T-Bird scores including a natural hattrick to close out the second period and begin the third, leading up to a 6-3 East lead.

Eagle River senior captain Ryan Ghan closed out the game's scoring on an unassisted power-play tally with just over a minute remaining to account for the 6-4 final.

The game broke down a bit at the end, with tempers flaring, as the two squads logged 52 minutes of penalties in the final period, including four ten-minute unsportsmanlike infractions.

Both teams will have opportunity to cool off over the two weeks, as players return to their constituent competition and recreational teams for various Holiday tournaments before Cook Inlet Conference games resume on Jan. 5.

In the first game back, Eagle River takes on Chugiak for a round-two confrontation at the McDonald Center.

In their first meeting, Chugiak defeated the Wolves, 2-1, Nov. 17.

You can reach the reporter at editor@alaskastar.com.

Friday, Dec. 18, McDonald Center

East 6, Eagle River 4

East 2 2 2 - 6

Eagle River 1 2 1 - 4

First period - 1) Eagle River, Wood (Russell) 3:24; 2) East, R. Luiten (Carter) 8:15; 3) East, R. Luiten (Mattisen) 10:28 (pp). Penalties - East 2 for 4 minutes, Eagle River 2 for 4.

Second period - 4) Eagle River, Russell (Wood) :17; 5) East, R. Luiten, 2:07; 6) Eagle River, Gally 3:47; 7) East, R. Luiten 4:15. Penalties - East 1 for 2, Eagle River 3 for 6.

Third period - 8) East, R. Luiten (Carter) 11:27 (sh); 9) East, R. Luiten (J. Luiten) 13:16 (en); 9) Eagle River, Ghan 13:57 (pp). Penalties - East 8 for 24; Eagle river 6 for 28.

Goalies - East, J. Luiten 4-5-6 - 15; Eagle River, Shortridge 10-14-5 - 29.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, December 24, 2009.