ANCHORAGE, Alaska – In the third game of this series, the Alaska Aces look to keep their 10-game point streak alive. They nabbed one point on Friday in a late-night shootout, and secured two more Saturday in their 8-6 win over the Toledo Walleye. Unfortunately, the Aces couldn’t turn this series up to 11. Giving away a 4-1 lead, they end up losing 5-4 in the last minutes of the third period Sunday afternoon.
Toledo is leading the ECHL Western conference with 36 points in 22 games, and Alaska made them earn the points they collected this weekend. Friday night, it took 20 skaters to decide the winner in the shootout. In a scoring extravaganza on Saturday, the Aces got to keep both of the points available, but on Sunday the Walleye shuffled the deck and took the points on the river card.
By the numbers:
Each team scored a total of 15 goals this weekend. Helped by a hat trick on Saturday, Peter Sivak leads the ECHL with 20 goals. Tyson Spink is the league leader for the top scoring rookies, and his twin brother Tylor is 2nd in the ECHL. Toledo is also first in the league in overtime wins and power play goals.
Photo by Phillip Nichols (PHN)
Friday, December 9 Summary:
Aces 3, Walleye 4 SO
Shots on Goal Alaska 34, Toledo 36
TEN rounds in the shootout before Jacob MacDonald of the Walleye finally gets one past Kevin Carr.
Toledo PowerPlay 0/2, Alaska get 1/3.
Stephen Perfetto returned from his stint with the AHL and tallied two dingers in the first two periods, and picked up an assist in the third. Peter Sivak fired one over the netminder’s shoulder to give the Aces their only lead in the game. Evan Rankin of Toledo tied it up in the third, eventually dragging it out through overtime and into a shootout, giving the Walleye their ninth straight win and the Aces their ninth straight game with at least one point.
Photo by Phillip Nichols (PHN)
Saturday, December 10 Summary:
Aces 8, Walleye 6
Shots on Goal Alaska 32, Toledo 47
24 different people earn points Saturday night, with a hat trick from Peter Sivak and two goals plus two assists for Stephen Perfetto. Goaltender Kevin Carr even picks up an assist in the first period.
Toledo PowerPlay 4/9, Alaska 1/3.
In a comedy of errors, two of the goals that went into the Aces net came off of an Aces player. In the first period the puck was deflected from Carr’s own stick and into the back of the net. At 12:55 in the third, the goal attributed to Tylor Spink was actually kicked in by one of the Aces defensemen. With a total of 14 goals, 79 shots on goal, and 36 penalty minutes the full boxscore for this game bleeds onto a second page.
Photo by Phillip Nichols (PHN)
Sunday, December 11 Summary:
Aces 4, Walleye 5
Shots on Goal Alaska 22, Toledo 34
Aces accurate in the first half of the second period, and build a 4-1 lead. Unfortunately, this would not last as they piddled it away over the next 20 minutes of play. Scott Czarnowczan (say that three times fast) gains the game winning goal for Toledo at 18:03 in the final period.
Toledo PowerPlay 1/5, Alaska 1/6.
The Aces face a long road trip over the holidays facing Tulsa, Missouri, and Rapid City over the next two weeks. They will return home to face the Colorado Eagles for a three game series beginning on December 30th.
Happy Holidays from the ProHockeyNews staff! Be safe, be grateful, and give the gift of joy this season.
Contact the author at Liz.Ortiz@prohockeynews.com
Follow the author on Twitter @LizOrtizPHN or @prohockeynews
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