ANCHORAGE Alaska – In the second match of a three game series, the Alaska Aces host the Cincinnati Cyclones at the Sullivan Arena Friday night. The Aces, in their commemorative St. Patrick’s Day jerseys, started this game with a little more energy than they finished on Wednesday night. They were energized with the return of forward Peter Sivak, who had been on Injured Reserve for the better part of a month.
Even with the top-scoring Sivak back in the line-up after missing 19 games, the first period was largely uneventful. There were a couple of good opportunities for both the Cincinnati Cyclones and the Alaska Aces, but the only thing noteworthy was an unsuccessful power play against Cincinnati at the end of the period.
Cincinnati snuck in a goal shortly after the biscuit bounced at the start of the second period, however. Shane Walsh beat Mackenzie Stewart and nailed the back of the net with a lazer for his 17th buzzer of the season.
Aces have improved with their play since Wednesday night, but it seems like the Cyclones have tripled in size during their days off. The pucks are heading towards the net, but every shot has the body of a Cincinnati player in front of it. The Aces got thirteen shots on goal during the 2nd period, but probably had at least that many in blocked shots as well.
This period also brought out some more fights involving Aces captain Garet Hunt, who dropped his gloves during the first minute of the game last Wednesday. Tonight he was involved in an altercation behind Cincy’s net, which led to some more hurt feelings later. The Aces incurred some extra penalties for pulling a Cyclone off the bench and over the wall in the last of the arguments which gave Cincinnati a 5 on 3 opportunity.
Which they took advantage of. The Cyclones pop in their second goal over the shoulder of Aces netminder Kevin Carr in a chip play. Aces were still out shooting the Cyclones, but Cincinnati was more effective in their shots. By the end of the second period the score was 2-0 Cincy, with shots on goal at 21 – 13 Aces.
The third period was mostly spent on the Cincy end of the ice and everything seemed to be going Alaska’s way: except for the score. The Aces finally grab a goal at 14:17 when Ben Lake did his best to put his team back in the game. Cincinnati goaltender Michael Houser was not going to allow that to happen, and sat on every other puck that came his way until the end of the game.
Final Score: Cincinnati Cyclones 2, Alaska Aces 1, Shots on goal 33-20 Aces. Cincy 1/2 on power plays, and Alaska 0/4. The final match is Saturday night at the Sullivan Arena before the Aces head back out on the road.
Contact the author at Liz.Ortiz@prohockeynews.com
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