ANCHORAGE, AK — Branden Komm stopped all 29 shots he faced for his second consecutive shutout and Joe Basaraba’s second-period goal held up as the game-winner, as the Idaho Steelheads (41-22-7) skated to a 2-0 win over the Alaska Aces (32-28-10) at Sullivan Arena on Wednesday night.
Komm earned his third shutout of the season, and fourth of his career, while extending his personal shutout streak to 124:46. It was the Steelheads’ fifth shutout win of the season, with four of them occurring on the road.
The Aces had three power play chances in the third period but only recorded one shot on goal across them, as the Steelhead penalty kill shut things down in front of Komm. The Aces’ best opportunity to tie came with 5:15 left in the third period when Marco Roy fired a shot from the left wing the zipped past Komm’s glove and rang the post. The horn sounded in the arena but play continued and the Steelheads were able to clear.
In the second period, Komm made arguably his best save on Stephen Perfetto, who was playing his first game back with the Aces after having been in AHL Milwaukee. Daniel Moynihan feathered a puck into the Steelheads’ zone from the left-wing wall, just over the blue line. Perfetto darted between the Idaho defense to chase down the puck and fire a quick shot from the left dot, with Komm sliding out to cut down the angle and squeezing the shot between his pads.
Basaraba snapped a scoreless tie at 8:41 of the second period after Aaron Harstad held the puck in at the Alaska blue line. Just 13 seconds after Idaho’s lone power play had expired, Basaraba’s shot off the rush was blocked. The Aces fanned on a clearing attempt and Harstad corralled the puck before giving it off to Bryce Van Brabant at the left dot. The quick transition gave Idaho an advantage around the Alaska net, and Van Brabant dropped a pass back for Basaraba to rifle past the blocker of Kevin Carr for his 21st goal of the season and a 1-0 Idaho lead.
The Steelheads protected that lead until the final minute, when Andre Morrissette raced the length of the ice to beat Alaska defenseman Chase Van Allen to a dump-in and negate an icing call with the Aces’ net empty. Morrissette would then force a turnover and hit the empty net for his fifth goal of the season and a 2-0 lead with seven seconds remaining.
The Steelheads’ win, coupled with an overtime win by the Utah Grizzlies over the Missouri Mavericks, puts the Aces three points outside of a playoff spot with two games left on their schedule. The Steelheads have won eight of their last 11 games.
The Steelheads and the Aces continue their series at Sullivan Arena on Friday night. Puck-drop is scheduled for 9:15 p.m. MT.
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