Alaska leads series 3-1

STOCKTON, Calif. – The Alaska Aces pulled ahead of the Stockton Thunder tonight in a heartbreaker, with a final score of 4-2 and lead the Western Conference Semifinals 3-1.

Stockton needed to play hard to win this game at home, but the Aces seemed to have the luck of the draw as the game progressed.   Stockton’s Chris D’Alvise opened the scoring at 12:28 into the first period with a rebound from inside the crease.   It would turn out to be the only goal of the period, with assists to Greg Squires and Max Campbell.   At 1:18 into the second period, the Aces answered the Stockton goal, on a goal by Tyson Marsh, beating Olivier Roy blocker side to even the score.  Gabriel Levesque broke the tie at 12:47, with a powerplay goal.   But the Thunder’s lead was short lived, as Ryan Cruthers found a hole and zipped the puck past Roy with less than two minutes remaining in the period.  The 2-2 tie continued until the 14:08 marker of the third period, when Steve Ward scored the ultimate winning goal as he beat Roy to the net.   The Thunder rallied and the final minutes were hard hitting, and fast paced. But the frenzied play came to an end with less than four minutes remaining, and the Thunder down by one, Jordan Fulton checked Kane Lafranchise hard against the back boards behind their net.   Fulton was sent to serve the penalty, while his teammates tried to find a way to score against Coleman.  Despite the extra skater with Roy pulled in the final minute of play, Nick Mazzolini caught up to a loose puck near the blue line and outskated the defending players to roll past the empty net and gently tip the puck to seal the deal at 19:57.   The Aces will return for one final game in Stockton on Saturday night, in a must win scenario for the trailing Thunder.   Contact the writer at Shellie.Lima@prohockeynews.com Contact the photographer at Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com