Sports stats



Salmon Kings Fold Aces

January 22, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Victoria Salmon Kings News Release


Anchorage, AK - In a Friday night matchup at the Sullivan Arena the Victoria Salmon Kings took on division rival the Alaska Aces in their third meeting of the season. The Salmon Kings started David Shantz between the pipes while the Aces countered with Gerald Coleman.

The Salmon Kings and Aces exchanged penalties early into the first period but both teams were unable to find the game's opening marker on their respective man advantages. After returning to 5-on-5 action the teams went end-to-end with plenty of opportunities. Victoria forward Ryan MacMurchy broke in down the right hand side and made a deke between the legs of an Alaska defender. The Regina, SK native then shot a bullet past the blocker of Coleman for his 10th of the year at 8:27. MacMurchy looked for his second of the period minutes later. Tim Kraus skated in down the left side on a 3-on-1 and fed the puck to MacMurchy on the right side, but Coleman slid across to deny the Salmon Kings with his glove. Minutes later Victoria would find their second tally at 14:28. From the left point Gord Burnett threw the puck on net that deflected off a skate and onto the stick of Rick Cleaver at the bottom of the right circle. Cleaver snapped a quick shot through the legs of the Alaska goaltender for his 12th marker of the season. The Salmon Kings continued their dominant pressure on a late power play looking for a 3-0 advantage, as they hemmed the Aces in their own zone for the last three minutes of the period, but were unable to net their third goal of the period. Victoria skated into the first intermission with their 2-0 advantage.

The second period opened with both teams engaged in a conservative style of play. Alaska received a power play seven minutes into the period as they looked to cut the Victoria lead in half. After a point shot, Aces forward Wes Goldie corralled the puck to the left of the net and put a backhand shot past Shantz from his knees for his team-leading 22nd of the year at 7:55. Victoria immediately replied just 43 seconds later to regain their two-goal lead. From the bottom of the left face-off circle Matt Stefanishion fired a cross-crease pass to Rob Hennigar. The Salmon Kings' leading point scorer quickly tipped the puck past the outstretched glove of Coleman on his backhand for his fifth of the campaign. Victoria continued to build off their momentum as on the very next shift Victoria captain Pete Vandermeer burst in a breakaway. The Salmon Kings' veteran went to his backhand, but Coleman got his left shoulder on the puck to keep it a 3-1 game. Following Vandermeer's chance, both teams engaged in back-and-forth action as the goalies were forced to keep the opposition at bay with key saves. Late in the frame, Alaska received a breakaway opportunity as forward Ethan Cox burst in. The speedy Ace fired a rocket from the hash marks that rang off the left post. As the seconds ticket off the second period, Aces Bryan Miller was sprung on the home side's second breakaway after he stepped out of the penalty box. The fourth-year Ace snapped a shot that went off the right post and stayed out of the net. The Salmon Kings took their 3-1 lead into the final period.

The Salmon Kings looked to extend their lead early in the final period, but received an early penalty. As the Victoria penalty kill unit stood their ground, Ryan Turek stepped out of the penalty box as his infraction expired and received a pass from Adam Taylor. The Michigan State University product shot the puck as he reached the top of the left faceoff circle. The puck trickled through the legs of Coleman, but hit the left post to keep the Aces' deficit at two. The physical edge picked up as the Aces looked to make the two goal comeback. Just over half way through the frame Kory Falite went in on Alaska's third breakaway of the night, but Shantz whipped out the right pad on the breakaway to negate the Alaska opportunity. With two minutes to play in the game, the Aces pulled Coleman for the extra attacker, but MacMurchy added an empty net goal for his second of the game and insured the win for the Victoria. Salmon Kings 4 Aces 1.

Victoria went 0/4 0.0% on the power play, while Alaska was 1/3 33.3%. The Aces outshot the Salmon Kings 28-22.

Victoria finishes up their two game series with Alaska tomorrow Saturday January 22nd with game time 8:15 pm. To watch or listen live to Salmon Kings hockey visit www.salmonkings.com. The Salmon Kings then return home to the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre for a three game set versus the Las Vegas Wranglers on Friday January 28th, Saturday January 29th and Sunday January 30th. The first two game start at 7:05 pm while the Sunday game starts at 1:05 pm. Following the Sunday game the Salmon Kings will be hosting their second skate with the Salmon Kings. For tickets call 250-220-7777 or visit www.selectyourtickets.com.

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from January 22, 2011


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.

Other Recent Victoria Salmon Kings Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central