Aces put chill on Solar Bears

ANCHORAGE, AK – Friday night at Sullivan Arena, the Orlando Solar Bears were hoping to once again ice down the host Alaska Aces. Problem was they forgot one thing: winters in Alaska can be cruel to those who may not be used to it.

Stephen Perfetto scored twice and Kevin Carr posted 29 saves as the Aces (20-10-1-4, 45 points) downed the visiting Solar Bears (19-13-4-2, 44 points) 4-2 in front of a hearty crowd of 3,279. Darik Angeli and Chris Bradley had the goals for Orlando while goalie Kasimir Kaskisuo followed up Wednesday’s 49-save effort by stopping 36 in a losing effort.

The weather outside the arena may have been snowy and icy but the Aces certainly were hot on the rink. Looking to avenge its loss two nights earlier, Alaska warmed up Kaskisuo quickly with a torrent of shots that had the rookie goalie in a constant state of busy. Less than five minutes into the first period, Kaskisuo made a big save on Ben Lake with his right leg pad.

Not too long after a tussle between Orlando’s Alexandre Carrier and Alaska’s Dax Lauwers, the Aces opened the scoring when Perfetto skated down the left wing and from the base of the face-off circle nailed a wrist shot that zipped past Kaskisuo’s catching glove for the sniper’s 18th goal of the season.

It was the only score of the frame but had it not been for Kaskisuo, things might have been worse for the Solar Bears. During a mid-period Aces power play, the young netminder went side-to-side to take away a sure goal from one-time Solar Bear Peter Sivak – who just happens to be leading the entire ECHL in goals. Before the stanza ended, Kaskisuo turned away Tim Coffman on a breakaway to keep it a 1-0 contest after one.

Orlando, which was outshot 18-3 in the first, began to push back in the second. Carr was tested early by Orlando’s Joe Perry who was point blank in front but the goalie won the battle.

The Solar Bears finally found a way to even the score at the 9:05 mark of the frame thanks to some good old geometry. Carrier got the puck up high and fired a shot that missed the net. It came off the kickplate behind the net at a perfect angle, bouncing out the other side where Darik Angeli put it home past a sliding Carr for his fifth of the season and his second with Orlando.

The Aces countered three minutes later when they took advantage of a bad bounce during a Solar Bears power play. An Orlando pass in center ice hit a skate and ended up on the stick of Sivak who immediately sent it ahead to Perfetto. Perfetto skated in and beat Kaskisuo between the legs for a short-handed tally and his second goal of the game.

Orlando continued to put heat on Carr and the Aces defense, making the netminder sprawl across the front of the net to make a save a couple of minutes after the Perfetto score. The pressure finally paid off at the 15:19 mark when Alex Gacek set up Bradley for a one time blast from the point that got in under the crossbar for the defenseman’s first goal of the season.

A late power play for the Aces started to turn the momentum around and led to what would be the go-ahead score. Just seconds after the expiration of the man advantage, Lake took a pass from Wallace and started a bull rush into the Solar Bears end. Defenseman Eric Baier confronted Lake but as he went for a poke check, Baier lost his stick. It was just the break Lake needed to fire off a shot to the upper corner of the net with 22.8 seconds left in the period for Lake’s sixth of the year and a 3-2 Aces lead at the intermission.

Try as they might in the third, the Solar Bears could not find a way to beat Carr. Alaska’s goalie made two key saves – one on Chase Witala and moments later denying Angeli – early on to keep the lead. Eventually Orlando pulled Kaskisuo for an extra attacker but Sivak got the last word, taking a pass from Lake and hitting the empty net for his 27^th of the year to close the scoring.

Notes: Neither team was successful on the power play as Orlando went 0-for-3 while Alaska finished 0-for-4… Orlando made two trades on Thursday, acquiring goalie Jay Williams- who had been with the Solar Bears in training camp – from Atlanta for forward Connor Gaarder and later getting forward Milos Bubela from Wheeling for future considerations… Orlando and Alaska will conclude their three-game series Saturday night at Sullivan Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:15 p.m. Mountain time/11:15 p.m. Eastern time.