Aces victorious in road trip finale with four unanswered goals
December 15, 2013 - ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release
BOISE, Idaho - The Alaska Aces (14-7-1, 29 points) ripped off the first four goals of the game and held off a late rally by the Idaho Steelheads in a 5-4 victory before 3,923 fans at CenturyLink Arena on Saturday night.
The Aces ended an eight game road trip at 3-4-1 and buried three goals in the second period to highlight their run, by Ben Parker, Mathew Sisca and Anthony Nigro. Goaltender Olivier Roy earned the win with 23 saves.
Brendan Connolly opened the scoring, benefiting off a freak bounce off the boards which went to Tim Coffman behind the net. Coffman quickly centered Connolly, who ripped a one-timer past Pat Nagle with 2:02 left in the first period.
Jordan Kremyr lifted the Aces to a 2-0 lead after Idaho killed a penalty at 3:56, getting the best of Nagle's glove side on a wraparound bid.
Towards the end of a double minor that Brett Robinson took for slashing and unsportsmanlike conduct, Parker buried a power play goal with a slap shot from the left point with 6:17 left for a 3-0 bulge.
Just 38 seconds later, Dustin Molle ripped a wrister from the blueline that deflected off Mathew Sisca to put the Aces in command, leading 4-0. Anthony Nigro got Idaho on the board when Idaho caught the Aces in a middle of a line change. Nigro beat Roy from the left circle with 2:21 left in the period for a 4-1 gap.
Nick Mazzolini's seventh goal, a muffin from the right circle that fluttered past Nagle's right pad, padded the Aces lead at 5-1 with 11:43 left in regulation when Ross Ring-Jarvi stole Nigro's clearing pass and quickly flipped a pass across the circles.
Chaos broke out with a scrum at center ice which put the Aces shorthanded for four minutes and Idaho capitalized on back to back power play goals. Gaelan Patterson tucked a one timer under the crossbar at 9:23 and Justin Mercier converted just 59 seconds later to cut the Aces lead to 5-3.
On the next shift, Nigro converted on a second chance bid in the slot at 10:45, slicing the gap to 5-4. The Aces needed two key saves by Roy to preserve the victory, and cleared the puck after a faceoff win in their own zone with 16 seconds left.
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