ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Garet Hunt got Alaska off to a great start with a goal just nine seconds into the game, and Collin Valcourt had a goal, assist and fight as the Aces then fought off the Colorado Eagles 6-4 Friday at the Sullivan Arena.
Hunt’s tally, reportedly the fastest first goal in Aces history, kickstarted the team and the crowd which barely had time to find their seats. Valcourt followed that with his third goal in an Aces uniform, a power play strike at 3:45.
In the second period, Tim Coffman took a feed from Peter Sivak and scored his third goal of the season to make it 3-0 at 1:41. Colorado had a bit of pushback, as Trent Daavettila scored at 17:19 and the second period ended 3-1 Aces.
A wild scoring third period saw the Aces increase their lead to 5-1 after goals by Ben Lake and Anthony Deluca. Colorado then took advantage of Alaska’s easing off the gas pedal with three straight goals. Collin Bowman, Darryl Bootland and Giffen Nyren scored in succession, and the Eagles were within one at 5-4.
William Wrenn put the final nail in Colorado’s coffin with an empty net goal at 19:16, and Alaska skated off with their 7th win of the season.
Colorado outshot the Aces 36-34 for the game.
Aces goaltender Steven Summerhays made 32 saves for the win, while Eagles netminder Tate Maris had 28 saves.
The two teams will conclude their three game series Saturday night at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.
With Alaska Aces team release
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