Taranto's late game winner lifts Aces behind 44 shots on goal
October 26, 2013 - ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release
LAS VEGAS - Andy Taranto's goal with 4:46 left in regulation, his second of the game, broke a 2-2 tie and lifted the Alaska Aces to a 3-2 victory over the Las Vegas Wranglers before a crowd of 4,147 at Orleans Arena on Friday night.
The Aces, who won their road opener of the 2013-14 season on the same night that Nick Mazzolini was named captain, owned a 44-16 shots advantage and outshot the Wranglers 23-2 during a stretch over the first and second period. Joni Ortio improved to 2-1-0 in net with 14 saves while Brendan Connolly factored in every Aces goal with a three point effort.
Greg Coburn got Las Vegas up 1-0 with a power play goal at 5:12 of the first period, finishing Carlo Finucci's feed from between the circles. The Aces responded with several dominant shifts after in search of the game tying goal and capped the period with a shorthanded rally.
Mazzolini, successful in a diving attempt to deny a pass to the blueline, raced to the cleared puck with Jordan Kremyr in the Las Vegas zone and managed one final shot on O'Keefe before the period expired.
The Aces knotted the score on Taranto's first goal of the season, credited for a jam play at the net after O'Keefe failed to cover the puck at 6:16 of the second period.
Connolly then blasted his first goal of the season for a 2-1 lead with 5:54 left. Following an Aces penalty kill, Corey Syvret threaded a long pass to James Martin, who darted out of the penalty box and relayed the puck to Connolly to create a two-on-one chance.
Connolly picked the corner from the right circle over O'Keefe's blocker.
Las Vegas leveled the game on Chris Francis' second goal of the season when he buried a power play marker from the left circle with seven minutes left in regulation. But the Aces responded when Taranto chased a rolling puck into the Wranglers zone 2:14 later and outmuscled the defense to stash a backhander over O'Keefe, restoring the Aces lead.
Ortio turned away two Wranglers bids late in regulation, including another wrister by Francis to close the game. O'Keefe, making his season debut, took the loss on 41 saves.
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