Aces Rally Past Vegas In Shootout

Published on October 19, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release


ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Corbin Schmidt and Matt Shasby scored power play goals to erase a 5-3 third period deficit, and Jean-Philippe Lamoureux stopped all four shots he faced in the shootout as Alaska completed a two-game sweep of Las Vegas with a 6-5 victory in front of 4,693 Saturday at Sullivan Arena.

The Aces went 7-1 in shootouts last season and now have taken their last five regular season match-ups at home against the Wranglers, with four of those five meetings being decided in the skills competition.

Similar to Friday night, Las Vegas scored first, and once again, Mick Lawrence provided the goal, a backhander over the right shoulder of Lamoureux at 3:11 of the first period. Josh Soares snapped a wrist shot past Vegas starter Bryan Bridges at 8:46, the first of three power play goals for Alaska, and the teams remained deadlocked 1-1 after 20 minutes.

With Bridges being jostled near the top of his crease, Aces defenseman Nick Tuzzolino saw the opening and blasted a slap shot into an empty net for the lead three minutes into the second period. But the Wranglers created traffic of their own in front of Lamoureux later in the frame, and the result was three goals in a span of 4:01 that turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead.

Former Ace Tim Spencer scored the first of his two goals on a rebound at 15:41. Mike Madill followed less than two minutes later with a shot from the point that appeared to be re-directed, and when Chris Korchinski pounced on another loose rebound and slipped the puck underneath Lamoureux with 17.6 seconds left in the period, Alaska found itself trailing by two goals entering the third.

With a league-high nine wins when facing a deficit heading into the final 20 minutes last season, the Aces appeared ready for another comeback when Luke Erickson scored just five minutes into the frame, but Spencer answered with a backhander that beat Lamoureux five-hole with 9:06 remaining, pushing the Vegas margin back to 5-3. A hooking minor against defenseman Gerard Miller led to Schmidt's goal, a blast from the left point, and when Mike Hamilton inadvertently flipped a clearing attempt over the glass, drawing a two-minute minor for delay of game, Shasby made the Wranglers pay with a one-timer top shelf at 16:37 for the equalizer.

Neither club threatened in overtime, and while Lamoureux stoned Shawn Limpright, Lawrence, Hamilton, and Adam Miller in succession, Alexandre Imbeault and Soares scored in the second and fourth rounds, respectively, to provided the margin of victory. Alaska's win came despite 47 shots on goal by Las Vegas, the most surrendered by the Aces since March 23, 2007.

Alaska returns to practice Monday in preparation for its first road trip of the season, a two-game set at the 'E' Center against National Conference finalist Utah, a 3-2 shootout winner at Idaho Saturday in its 2008-09 debut. Next Friday and Saturday's games from just outside Salt Lake City will begin at 5:00 p.m. AST and be broadcast live on the flagship home of Aces hockey, KFQD 750 AM, with coverage beginning at 4:45 p.m. after the Dan Fagan radio show.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from October 19, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central