Aces blister Salmon Kings, 8-0
December 18, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release
VICTORIA, BC - Playing in his home province, Alaska goaltender Matt Underhill stopped all 27 shots he faced to earn his second shutout of the year while Barrett Heisten provided the offensive support with two goals and an assist in an 8-0 drubbing of Victoria Saturday at the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre.
Underhill, a Campbell River, BC native, faced 12 shots in the first period as the Salmon Kings out-shot the Aces but fell behind 2-0 as Olivier Filion set up Heisten beautifully to snap a scoreless tie with 6:30 left in the frame. Mike Scott scored the first of five Alaska power play goals three minutes later, and the Aces never looked back.
The Salmon Kings hung close through the second period, allowing only a power play goal by Matt Shasby with 2:17 remaining, but the floodgates opened in the third, as Alaska erupted for five more goals, beginning with Heisten's second of the night on another power play just 1:13 into the final stanza. Cam Keith scored his eighth goal of the season at 4:20, and Ryan Gaucher, who along with Heisten extended his points streak to 10 games, followed with his seventh of the year 51 seconds later, chasing Victoria goalie David Currie with the score 6-0.
The Aces added two more power play goals in the final eight minutes, as the only two skaters on their roster without a goal found the net. Joe Talbot, in only his second game back after missing the first 22 while recovering from off-season surgery, and rookie winger John-Scott Dickson capped the scoring as Alaska maintained its one-point lead in the West Division, where Las Vegas also won, nipping Stockton, 3-2. Both teams are unbeaten in their last 13 games at 12-0-1.
The Aces have matched last year's team and the 1997-98 squad by going unbeaten in 13 straight contests dating to November 12. Gaucher finished with a playmaker to go along with his goal for a four-point night while Dickson, Shasby and Scott all collected two points. With the shutout, Underhill lowered his league-leading goals against average to 1.92. Underhill's counterpart, Chris Beckford-Tseu, who was called up to Alaska's NHL affiliate in St. Louis yesterday and currently ranks second in the ECHL behind his teammate with a 1.96 GAA, sat on the bench last night as the Blues fell at home to Philadelphia, 5-2. St. Louis travels to Phoenix Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. ADT and San Jose Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. ADT.
The Aces practice Sunday at Noon before finishing up their three-game series against the Salmon Kings Monday night at 6:00 p.m. ADT. After that tilt, Alaska will be off until Wednesday, December 28, when Victoria invades Sullivan Arena for the opener of a three-game set at 7:15 p.m. ADT. All Alaska Aces games, home and away, are broadcast live on KFQD AM 750 and at www.alaskaaces.com.
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