Aces Clinch Playoff Spot With 4-3 Win Over Steelies
April 1, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Rookie Dion Knelsen, playing just his second professional game, assisted on two of Alaska's three goals in regulation, then scored in the shootout to help the Aces outlast Idaho, 4-3, before 4,183 Wednesday at Sullivan Arena.
The victory assured Alaska (34-28-8) of its seventh straight trip to the Kelly Cup playoffs, and restored the club to the #3 seed in the National Conference with two games left to play. The Aces, who broke a six-game losing streak against the regular season champion Steelheads, play those two games at home against Stockton Friday and Saturday at 7:15 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on KFQD 750 AM. The two teams are separated by just a point with the Thunder holding the tiebreaker. Alaska also remained a point ahead of Utah; should those two clubs finish the season tied, the Aces would hold the tiebreaker edge by virtue of a 6-2 record against the Grizzlies this season.
For the eighth time in its last 10 contests, Alaska scored first Wednesday, as Nick Mazzolini lifted a rebound over Idaho goalie Richard Bachman with 3:28 left in the opening period. Bachman, named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team, had shut the Aces out with 25 saves in a 2-0 win Tuesday. The Steelheads responded barely a minute later when Mark Derlago poked home the game-tying goal, his 41st, wtih 2:11 remaining before the break.
Jarrett Konkle scored his second goal in an Aces sweater and his 14th of the year off a perfect feed from Knelsen at 3:49 of the second period, but again, Idaho quickly answered, as Kevin DeVergillio shoveled a backhander past Alaska goalie Billy Sauer barely a minute later. Curtis Fraser scored on a rebound at the tail end of an Alaska power play, putting the hosts up 3-2 at 7:44 of the second period, but six minutes later, Marty Flichel created another deadlock by punching home another rebound.
The score remained knotted 3-3 for the remaining 26 minutes of regulation and through overtime, with the Aces piling up 37 shots on goal while permitting the visitors only 17. Alaska's previous lowest shots against total had been 24. The shootout again saw the clubs go back and forth, but the Aces never fell behind, scoring in the first and third rounds while the Steelheads countered in the second and fourth. Finally, after Flichel hit the post in the fifth round for Idaho, rookie Garry Nunn, in his seventh game as a pro, beat Bachman for the winner.
Alaska opens the 2010 Kelly Cup playoffs at the Menard Center in Wasilla Monday and Tuesday night at 7:35 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at the team offices at 15th and Gambell between 9 a.m.-6 p.m. and available to Mat-Su Valley residents at the Seward-Meridian Subway and the Target GCI store. All tickets sold in the Valley will be standing-room-only; for those Valley residents wishing to purchase a different level of seating, please contact the Aces office at 258-ACES, then selecting option #1 for ticketing.
ECHL Stories from April 1, 2010
- Wranglers Control Reign, 5-2 - Las Vegas Wranglers
- Goaltender Mike Morrison Joins Grizzlies In Victoria - Utah Grizzlies
- Regular Season Finale Friday And Saturday With Team Cards, SpongeBob - Bakersfield Condors
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Salmon Kings' Sharrow Named To All-ECHL Team - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Salmon Kings' Ellington Rejoins Moose - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Step Up Or Step Aside - Kalamazoo Wings
- Bachman Recalled By AHL's Texas Stars - Idaho Steelheads
- Eric Regan Named 1st Team All ECHL - Bakersfield Condors
- Stingrays Host Watch Party At Manny's Neighborhood Grill - South Carolina Stingrays
- Derlago Named 1st-Team All-ECHL, Spurgeon And Bachman Honored As Well - Idaho Steelheads
- Ryan Kinasewich Named To All ECHL 1st Team - Utah Grizzlies
- Checkers Donate More Than $80k To Charity In March - Charlotte Checkers
- All-ECHL First Team Announced - ECHL
- All-ECHL Second Team Announced - ECHL
- Ford Named To All-ECHL First-Team - South Carolina Stingrays
- Donati Brothers Selected To All-ECHL Teams - Elmira Jackals
- Derek Nesbitt Returns To Toledo From Rockford - Toledo Walleye
- J.C. Sawyer Named All-ECHL 1st Team - Toledo Walleye
- Checkers Announce Pre-Playoff Roster Moves - Charlotte Checkers
- Tifu Loaned To B-Sens - Elmira Jackals
- Swampy's Heroes Fly with Paragon Flight and 'Blades - Florida Everblades
- Johnstown Hosts Final Chiefs Game On Saturday - ECHL
- Toledo Walleye Clinch Playoff Berth - Potential Home Dates Announced - Toledo Walleye
- Jackals Playoff Ticket Information - Elmira Jackals
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- Everblades Home Playoff Dates Set - Florida Everblades
- Aces Clinch Playoff Spot With 4-3 Win Over Steelies - Alaska Aces
- Steelheads Fall To Aces In Shootout, 4-3 - Idaho Steelheads
- Furious Thunder Comeback Falls Short - Stockton Thunder
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