Aces Rally To Top RoadRunners 5-4 In Overtime
March 14, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alexandre Imbeault scored with 36.3 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Alaska Aces over the Phoenix RoadRunners 5-4 before 4,912 at Sullivan Arena in ECHL action Friday.
The RoadRunners (26-29-4) struggled off the start with discipline trouble yet killed off five penalties in the opening period to go into the first intermission tied at 1-1 with Alaska. The Aces (38-21-3) converted on their third trip on the power play when Lance Galbraith fed Brett Hemingway who beat an out-stretched RoadRunners' goalie Chris Beckford-Tseu with a shot at 4:33 for a 1-0 lead. Daniel Sisca netted the equalizer less than two minutes later at 6:05 when he snapped a shot past a screened Alaska goalie J.P. Lamoureux to tie the score at 1-1.
Michael Cohen snapped the tie at 6:02 of the second period when he beat Lamoureux through the pads and in with a slap shot from the right-wing circle giving the RoadRunners a 2-1 lead. Sisca extended that lead to two goals a little more than three minutes later at 9:07 when he stripped an Aces defenseman in the corner and proceeded to wrap the puck around the net and through Lamoureux for a 3-1 advantage.
But the Aces would rally early in the third getting goals from Luke Erickson at 1:24 even-strength and Galbraith at 5:42 on the power play to tie the score at 3-3. The RoadRunners answered 37 seconds later getting a second goal from Cohen on a tipped shot past Lamoureux at 6:55 to regain the lead at 4-3. But the Aces would fight back 36 seconds after Cohen's goal as Colin Hemingway put Nick Tuzzolino's rebound past Beckford-Tseu to tie the score at 4-4 and set up Imbeault's overtime dramatics.
Alaska out-shot Phoenix 43-26. Beckford-Tseu stopped a season-high 38 shots but suffered the overtime loss to fall to 1-4-2 overall on the season. The RoadRunners went 0-2 on the power play while Alaska was 2-7 with the man-advantage.
Notes: The RoadRunners dropped their first game past regulation since a 4-3 shootout loss at Ontario on Dec. 20...Phoenix fell to 2-9-2 in 13 lifetime games at Sullivan Arena...The RoadRunners completed three trades prior to Friday's 3:00 p.m. (ET) trade deadline acquiring forwards Chase Trull, David Rutherford, and P.J. Corsi, and defenseman Brian Deeth. All four players are expected to make their RoadRunners' debuts Saturday...With just four defenseman, the RoadRunners signed 39-year-old Anchorage resident Chris Newans to a standard player's contract Friday. Newans last skated professionally in 2005-06, but has accumulated 162 goals, 309 assists, 471 points, and 1,925 penalty minutes during a 14-year professional career that included three stints with the Anchorage Aces of the former West Coast Hockey League. He's the 40th player to don a RoadRunners' jersey this season, and debuted by collecting an assist on Sisca's first period goal.
The RoadRunners continue a five-game trip and a stretch of 12 out of their final 15 games on the road at 8:15 p.m. Saturday with the third of four games in five nights against the Alaska Aces at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. Catch all the action live on Independent 1310 KXAM beginning with "RoadRunners Countdown" at 8:00 p.m.
Phoenix returns to US Airways Center at 7:05 p.m. Thursday, March 19 when they open a two-game series against the Alaska Aces.
Great seats are still available beginning as low as $8 and can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at (480) 784-4444, purchasing online at ticketmaster.com or visiting the US Airways Center Box Office. Information on season tickets, half-season packages, and flex plans for the 2008-09 season of Phoenix RoadRunners Hockey are available by calling (602) 462-GOAL.
ECHL Stories from March 14, 2009
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- Aces Rally To Top RoadRunners 5-4 In Overtime - Phoenix RoadRunners
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