Alaska completes three-game sweep of Vegas, 3-2 in a shootout
February 25, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Brett Hemingway scored the game-tying goal with 6:42 left in regulation, then added the winner in the shootout as Alaska moved a season-high nine games over .500 with its seventh straight victory, 3-2 in a shootout over Las Vegas before 4,083 at Sullivan Arena.
After playing 130 minutes of pulsating hockey this weekend (both eventual shootout wins for the Aces), neither club showed much in the first period Sunday, combining for one shot on goal through 10 minutes before Chris Ferraro set up his twin brother, Peter, for the game's first goal at 10:28, a virtual tap-in on which Alaska's starter, Marek Schwarz, had no chance. Ryan Donally pushed the Las Vegas lead to 2-0 (the first and only time either team enjoyed a two-goal margin at any point during the series) just 1:32 into the second period with a wrist shot off the rush that sailed over the glove of Schwarz.
Josh Soares jammed home a rebound with the Aces on a power play five minutes after Donally's goal to trim the deficit to 2-1, but Alaska generated just one shot on goal on a subsequent four-minute opportunity with the man advantage that stretched into the third period. Hemingway's goal came on a rebound of a Vladimir Novak shot that hit the post, and for the third time in less than 72 hours, the teams battled into overtime, and eventually, a shootout.
Vegas took a quick 2-0 lead in the skills and had the Aces down to their last shot twice, but Novak scored in the fourth round, and Olivier Filion (who had been stopped on a breakaway in OT) followed with a goal in the fifth, setting the stage for Hemingway, who closed out the sweep with a wrister top shelf in the seventh round. Schwarz, who had given up goals on the first two shots he faced in the shootout, stopped the last five Wrangler attempts after finishing with 24 saves in regulation and OT.
After the game, the Aces announced that Derek Gustafson (11-15-4, 3.68 GAA, .880 save pct.) will return to the club from its AHL affiliate in Peoria in time for a three-game series against Phoenix that gets underway Thursday and Friday evening at 5:11 p.m. AT (Sunday's finale starts at 11:00 a.m. AT). Gustafson did not play a single minute for the Rivermen. Schwarz, meanwhile, returns to Peoria after having gone 6-0 for the Aces with a 2.08 GAA and a .924 save percentage.
The Roadrunners are winless in their last four games and 18-29-7 overall, but defeated the Aces 6-4 on January 5 and held a 3-2 lead with less than a minute to play the night before in an eventual 4-3 overtime loss. Phoenix faces a busy week; prior to meeting Alaska (28-19-5) in the first of three on Thursday, the 'Runners travel to Stockton Monday and Fresno Tuesday. All regular season games are broadcast live on AM 750 KFQD, with coverage beginning 15 minutes prior to face-off.
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