Alaska won three road games in three days to increase its winning streak to
eight games and moved into first place in the West Division of the National
Conference at 14-3-2, three points ahead of Idaho (13-4-1) and Utah
(13-7-1) and four points ahead of Las Vegas (12-4-2). The eight consecutive wins eclipse the team record of six wins set Dec. 31, 2004-Jan. 11, 2005 and the six home wins in a row surpasses the team record of four wins which the team achieved three times.
The Aces return home to host Pacific Division leader Fresno (10-4-4) on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Alaska has won the last four meetings between the two teams, including 5-1 on Sunday at Fresno, and the Aces are 13-3-3 against the Falcons.
During its current winning streak, Alaska has outscored its opponents 31-8, allowing more than one goal only once. The Aces lead the league in goals-against average with 1.79 and are third in shots allowed with 27.16 per game.
Matt Underhill is 4-0-0 with a shutout, goals-against of 0.75 and a save percentage of .972 while Chris Beckford-Tseu is 4-0-0 with goals-against of 1.25 and a save percentage of .944. Beckford-Tseu is 7-0-1 and leads the ECHL with in goals-against average with 1.49 and save percentage with .942 and is the only goaltender to be named Reebok Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Week twice this season. Underhill is 7-3-1 and ranks third in the league in goals-against average with 1.91 and fifth in save percentage with .932.
Defenseman Ryan Gaucher has nine points (3g-6a) in the last eight games, scoring the game-winning goal in three straight games.
Chris Minard has six points (4g-2a) in the last two games, including a game-winning goal, and 11 points (9g-2a), including three multiple-goal games and two game winners, in the last eight games. Minard is tied for the league lead with four game-winning goals and is tied for third place with 13 goals after leading the ECHL a year ago with 49 goals.
Barrett Heisten has a five-game scoring streak (3g-7a) and 12 points (4g-8a) in the last eight games.
Stingrays, Checkers Make South Division Race Tighter
Posting back-to-back wins over South Division leader Greenville, South
Carolina extended its winning streak to a season-high three games and
improved to 5-1-0 in its last six games. The Stingrays are 7-9-5 and tied
for fourth place with Charlotte (9-6-1), one point behind Florida (11-6-0)
and Columbia (10-7-2) and four points behind Greenville (11-7-1).
The Stingrays will host Pensacola (8-9-2) on Tuesday and visit Charlotte
on Friday before hosting Trenton (10-7-2) on Saturday and Greenville on
Sunday. South Carolina is 6-5-0 all-time in the regular season against
Pensacola and 2-4-1 all-time in the regular season against Trenton. The
Stingrays are 0-1-0 at Charlotte and 0-3-1 overall against the Checkers
this season and have won the last two meetings against Greenville to
improve to 2-0-1 against the Grrrowl this year, including 1-0-0 at home.
Maxime Daigneault is 4-0-0 with a shutout and goals against of 1.00 in his
last four starts and 5-0-0 with shutout and goals against of 1.27 in his
last five games, improving his record to 7-7-3 while lowering his goals
against to 2.97 and raising his save percentage to .910.
Jeff Legue has two game-winning goals and four points (2g-2a) in the last
three games and leads the Stingrays with three game-winning goals and 10
goals while ranking second with 17 points (10g-7a) in 21 games. Brad
Parsons leads the Stingrays with 14 assists and 19 points in 19 games while
Ty Morris is second on the team with 12 assists and third in scoring with
15 points in 18 games.
Florida extended its home winning streak to eight games and improved to
4-1-0 in its last five games with back-to-back wins against Gwinnett on
Friday and Saturday. The Everblades, whose only loss was in their home
opener on Oct. 28, will host Pensacola on Friday and Augusta on Saturday.
The team record for home wins is nine games set Dec. 3, 1999-Jan. 22, 2000.
Florida is 16-8-2 at home and 25-11-9 all-time against Pensacola. The
Everblades are 2-0-0 at home and 2-0-0 overall against Augusta this season
after winning 3-2 on Nov. 4 and 4-3 in a shootout on Nov. 5, improving to
20-4-3 all-time at home and 34-10-6 all-time overall against the Lynx.
Kevin Bergin has two game-winning goals and six points (4g-2a) in the last
four games. Daniel Sisca has seven points (1g-6a) in the last six games and
leads the Everblades with 11 assists and 15 points in 17 games. Chris Lee
has eight points (3g-5a) in the last six games while Paul Cabana has a
three-game goal-scoring streak (3g) and five points (4g-1a) in the last
five games. Craig Kowalski has won his last three starts to improve to
5-4-0 with goals against of 3.00 and a save percentage of .904.
Reading Stays Atop North Division
After having its seven-game home winning streak ended by a 4-3 loss to
Dayton on Friday, Reading beat Toledo 5-3 on Saturday to improve to 12-3-1
and remain in first place in the North Division with Wheeling (12-5-1),
three points ahead of Trenton (10-7-2) and four points ahead of Toledo
(9-5-3).
The Royals visit Johnstown on Friday before returning home to host Long
Beach on Saturday and Sunday. Reading won 3-2 at Johnstown on Oct. 22 to
improve to 10-12-2 against the Chiefs.
Defenseman T.J. Kemp has a nine-game scoring streak (2g-15a) and is tied
for the team lead with 15 assists while ranking fourth in scoring with 17
points in 16 games. Kemp is tied for second among league defensemen in
assists and tied for fourth in scoring. Greg Hogeboom has an eight-game
scoring streak (5g-11a) and is tied for the team lead with 15 assists is
tied with Mike Kompon, who has 16 points (5g-11a) in his last nine games,
for the scoring lead with 21 points.
In the last nine games, the Royals are 8-1-0 and have outscored their
opponents 45-20 while going 18-for-49 on the power play to improve to 26.4
percent which ranks second in the league. In the last six games, Reading
has killed off 36 of 39 penalties to improve its penalty kill to 87.8
percent which ties it for first in the ECHL with Charlotte. Reading ranks
third in the league in goals scored with 4.00 per game and goals allowed
with 2.44 per game.
Stanley Cup Tour
The Stanley Cup Tour of the ECHL will visit Boise, Idaho for the
Steelheads game against Victoria on Wednesday and then heads to South
Carolina where it will be at the Columbia Inferno game on Saturday and the
South Carolina Stingrays game on Sunday.
The National Hockey League and the Hockey Hall of Fame have toured
hockey's most prestigious trophy throughout the league since Oct. 26 to
raise awareness and money for hurricane relief efforts. The Tour stopped in
Bakersfield and Victoria last week after previous visits to Dayton,
Johnstown, Las Vegas Long Beach, Pensacola, Phoenix, Reading, Toledo,
Trenton, Utah and Wheeling.
Mississippi and Texas of the ECHL were both unable to play in 2005-06 as a
result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the Florida Everblades had to
postpone their season opener for a week because of Hurricane Wilma.
Donations generated by the appearances benefit charities assisting in
hurricane relief efforts including, but not limited to, the American Red
Cross, The Salvation Army and the United Way. The Tour is another addition
to the National Hockey League's charitable efforts which have included a
joint donation with the NHL Players' Association of $1 million to the Red
Cross for Hurricane Katrina relief.
Florida Ties Record For Fastest Two Goals
Florida tied the ECHL record for fastest two goals when Kevin Bergin and
Paul Cabana scored within three seconds of each other in the second period
of the Everblades 6-4 win against Gwinnett on Friday. Following Bergin's
power-play goal at 19:56, which was his third of the game and the game
winner, Cabana scored a power-play goal just before the period expired at
19:59.
The league record for fastest two goals was set on Feb. 11, 1992 by Howie
Rosenblatt and current San Diego Gulls' head coach Martin St. Amour, who
scored at 0:42 and 0:45 of the second period for Cincinnati against
Raleigh. The record was tied on Feb. 21, 1996 when Jeff Gabriel and Justin
McHugh, who scored at 6:33 and 6:36 of the second period for Jacksonville
against Nashville.
Feature Games Of The Week
North Division
Reading at Johnstown - Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET
* Royals are 7-1-0 in the last eight and Chiefs are
4-1-2 in the last seven.
* Reading won last meeting 3-2 on October 22.
South Division
Augusta at Gwinnett - Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. ET
* Teams are tied for the sixth and final playoff spot.
* Teams are identical 1-0-1 against each other.
West Division
Fresno at Alaska - Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. AT
* Second of four straight meetings between the two.
* Alaska won first game 5-1 at Fresno on Sunday.
Pacific Division
Phoenix at Stockton - Saturday at 7:30 p.m. PT
* Thunder playing first game ever at new Stockton Arena.
* RoadRunners have won two of their last three games.
Did You Know... Four former ECHL goaltenders have been named the NHL
Defensive Player of the Week and five have made their NHL debut in
2005-06.
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