ANCORAGE, AK – Anchorage’s Sullivan Arena hosted the opening tilt between the Aces and the Utah Grizzlies. As the two teams stepped in for the opening face at 7:15 AKDT Trenton and Elmira were still locked in their epic overtime battle in New Jersey well past midnight.
Prior to the opening faceoff the fans were brought to their feet as Utah’s Jordan Hart and the Aces’ Lance Galbraith were whistled for slashing at the 0:01 mark of the first. The two skaters jawed at each other for most of the night at the end of each shift.
Through the first twenty minutes each team was scoreless on two power play chances. The Grizzlies outshot the Aces 10-7 in the opening stanza but neither team was able to put the puck in the net.
Utah was sharp in the opening frame but the heavily favored and National Conference top seed Aces were unfazed. Over the regular season, the Aces were 7-2 against the Grizzlies.
The real glimpse of a goal was a wave-off on the fourth power play (a double minor for high-sticking) for the Aces in the second period. Interference in the crease caused the wave-off.
Undeterred the Aces came back and picked up the go-ahead goal off a blast from the point by Bryan Miller. The puck caromed past netminders Michael Mole and into the net off defenseman Jordan Hart. The power play marker lifted the crowd and energized the Aces bench.
Both clubs had 13 shots on goal in the middle frame.
A broken play and a good bounce led to a goal by Galbraith in the 6th minute of the third to give the Aces a bit of breathing room, 2-0.
Jean-Philippe Lamoureux picked up the win for the Aces and continued his dominance of the Grizzlies this season. It was his fourth shutout of the season in eight games against the Grizzlies.
More than 4700 fans filled into the Sullivan Arena for the contest.
Contact lm.davis@prohockeynews.com.
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