ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Penalty killing was the name of the game in the Sullivan Arena Thursday night. Hitting the ice strong, the Aces put pressure on the South Carolina Stingrays early in the first period with three good scoring chances in the opening two and a half minutes of play. Turning the tables, the Stingrays had an early power play when forward Collin Valcourt got caught for hooking at 3:14. The penalty was killed with only two shots on goal by South Carolina.
Aces forward Ben Lake opened the scoring at 9:06 and was assisted in front by Stephen Perfetto. A late penalty at 18:36 for hooking by Stingrays defenseman Colton Saucerman ended the first. Alaska handled the first period with 14 shots on goal, keeping South Carolina limited to nine.
The second period began with the Aces still on a power play with only a single, uneventful push towards the goal. The Stingrays got their chance when Lake received a tripping penalty at 2:12 into the period. The Aces had to scramble to kill this penalty, and the Stingrays strung together five unanswered shots, blocked by net-minder Kevin Carr.
Half-way through the period, Aces veteran Perfetto nailed his first goal of the evening, assisted by the newly-signed forward Tim Wallace and returning player Peter Sivak. After a little kerfuffle on the ice, Stingrays forward Marcus Perrier ended up in the penalty box for four minutes with a cross-checking minor and a roughing minor. Not to be thwarted, Stingrays forward Mads Eller scored an unassisted short-handed goal at 14:44 in the period.
Things continued to get chippy afterwards, and at one point there were two Aces’ helmets and a broken stick abandoned on the ice. The end of the period brought a barrage of penalties with Aces at two minutes for tripping, two minutes for roughing, and the Stingrays picking up a minor for roughing as well. Shots on goal looked a little more even at the end of the second with Aces 21 and Stingrays 22, but the swing of power was towards the visiting team.
The start of the third period was a little lethargic for both teams, and there were only two shots on goal for the Stingrays power play. Things perked up a bit with the Aces racking up two more penalties for delay of game at 3:46 and a high-stick at 4:10. The Stingrays could only squeeze out one shot on goal during their five on three advantage, however. The Aces got their chance at a power play at 5:54 with a hooking penalty against the Stingrays, but could not get anything to connect.
Half-way through the third period, Sivak pounded in his second goal, delivered by a long stretch pass from defenseman Ryan Trenz, bringing the score to a 3-1 Aces advantage. South Carolina pulled their goalie at 18:25, and shortly after, Alaska incurred a rare goalie penalty when Carr handled the puck outside of the trapezoid.
With an empty net, a power play, and a two-man advantage, the Stingrays tried to put the pressure on the home net. However, Perfetto poked the puck out of the huddle and tossed it across the ice into the net for the second short-handed, unassisted goal of the game.
Final score – Alaska Aces 4, South Carolina Stingrays 1. Both teams had a perfect record of penalty kills Thursday night, with Alaska shutting down six power plays and South Carolina killing five. The three stars of the game were Stephen Perfetto with two goals and two assists, Kevin Carr with 34 saves, and Peter Sivak with one goal and one assist. Recorded attendance for the Thursday Oct. 13 exhibition game was 1,559.
The Aces head down to Colorado to meet the Eagles for the season opener next Friday, Oct. 21. They return for their first home game in Anchorage Friday, Oct. 28 at 7:15pm at the Sullivan Arena.
Contact the author at Liz.Ortiz@prohockeynews.com
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