Aces dominate in shutout win over Thunder

STOCKTON, Calif. – The Alaska Aces came away from game three of the Western Conference Semifinals as the victors and lead the series two-to-one following a lop-sided 4-0 match at the Stockton Arena before 3,255 fans.
 
Alaska started the scoring at the 11:37 mark, on a Ryan Cruthers power play goal. Jordan Fulton was sent to the penalty box for interference on Alaska’s goaltender. As play started again, the Aces continued to pound away at Stockton’s goalkeeper Olivier Roy. Ultimately, Cruthers was able to poke the puck past Roy.
 
The Aces led 1-0 as the teams cleared the ice for the first intermission.
 
As the second period unfolded, the Aces still had the momentum on their side, despite having failed to capitalize on another power play opportunity when Stockton’s Garet Hunt was sent to the box for delay of game. The second period continued the physical hard hitting action. A close call towards the end of the period came in a virtual pile up in front of the net, but there was no whistle, as the puck was kicked loose. Roy left the Ice rather slowly as the horn sounded signaling the end of the period, without goals.
 
The Aces broke loose in the third period, as it seemed the Thunder couldn’t get a bouncing puck or call to go in their favor. Only a 1:06 into the period, Wes Goldie scored a goal on a little fake in front of the net, followed only 19 seconds later by a chip from Bryan Miller to Nick Mazzolini to put the Aces up 3-0. The two successive goals not only sucked the air out of the building from the fans, but seemed to give the Aces even more energy.
 
The Thunder attempted to slow the game down as the period continued on, but all attempts at the net were stymied by Gerald Coleman. The final blow with 5:13 remaining in the period came as Jordan Kremyr beat Roy stick side during a four-on-four play, extending the Aces lead to 4.
 
“The disappointing part is we didn’t create any consistent offense,” said Thunder Coach Matt Thomas.
 
“We didn’t play up to our potential. We weren’t creating offense for ourselves. We were outplayed on the first shift and that’s not a good sign.
 
The final bell sounded signaling Coleman’s fourth career shutout, and the disappointing Thunder loss. By the end of the game, the Aces outshot the Thunder 40-22.
 
Alaska’s head coach Rob Murray was pleased with his players tonight, and very happy with Coleman’s goaltending saying, “Gerald is a quality goaltender at this level. He’s a big part of our hockey team. We just got him back about a week before playoffs, so that was a big boost to our team.”
 
“We have to give them credit. They played a strong game. They played like a team determined; we played like a team that was hoping it would go our way,” said Thomas.
“Nothing will change for the next game. We are a good hockey team when we play the way we are supposed to. We just let it get away from us tonight. We can’t let that happen.”
The Aces will revel in the win tonight said Murray, “I thought we played a sound hockey game. We had some good goaltending when we needed it. Everyone did their job.”
 
The series is a best four out of seven series, so Murray added, “We will enjoy it and take this win and continue our focus for Friday night.”
 
The series continues with game four on Friday, April 21 in Stockton.
 
Contact the writer at Shellie.Lima@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer at Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com