ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Alaska Aces took home ice on Wednesday night for the first time since making the announcement that they are ceasing operations after this season. Attendance was good for a mid-week game as more than 2800 fans came to show support for their team as the Aces faced the Cincinnati Cyclones in the first of a three-game series.
Both teams are sitting in 4th place in their respective divisions, and are fighting over 
these few remaining points in their hunt for the coveted Kelly Cup play-off spots. The Cyclones split their series in Idaho last weekend keeping them a point behind the Orlando Solar Bears. The Aces fell to the Colorado Eagles in overtime on Saturday, but managed to nab 10 points on their road trip in the first half of March.
Alaska is feeling a bit of a pinch with the absence of some of their key players tonight. Peter Sivak is still on IR with a lower body injury, but hopes to return to the ice this weekend. Stephen Perfetto has been called up to the AHL and is currently playing for Milwaukee. These two forwards are the leaders in scoring for the Aces meaning that more pressure is being put on the rookies.
Coach Rob Murray has faith in his line-up though. “These guys are great. Danny Moynihan is sneaky good” Murray said. Their camaraderie and sportsmanship shows when they hit the ice.
The pressure isn’t only on the forwards for the Aces. Goalie Michael Garteig has been called up to Utica leaving Kevin Carr alone between the pipes. It is spring break in Alaska, and Davis Jones dressed for the bench this week. Jones is the goaltender for the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and came to Anchorage for a live try-out during the break from classes.
The energy was high when the biscuit finally bounced at 7:20 pm on Wednesday. Cincinnati won the first face-off, and Aces captain Garet Hunt took Cyclones forward Mele to the boards. This brought about some hurt feelings, and the gloves were off within 14 seconds of game time.
Alaska is not used to many fans of their opponents making the trek with the team, and Cincinnati surprisingly had twenty or so jersey wearers out in the crowd. These folks were delighted when Seth Ambroz picked up a bouncy rebound and took a shot from the slot that fired past Carr’s shoulder at 9:52 into the first period.
The remainder of the first period ended the same way the second period started: quietly. In the first, both teams were over-skating the puck and allowing pick-pockets easy access. In the second, both Alaska and Cincinnati were under-skating the play and the puck seemed to keep floating away from the ends of their sticks. Kurt Haider, the voice of the Aces, described the period as having “a bunch of benign opportunities, but nothing dangerously dangerous.”
Cincinnati defenseman Eric Knodel did get a laser on Carr’s stick side, fired in from the top of the circle in the bottom half of the second period, and the Aces had some opportunities in the final minutes building up some momentum going into the third period.
The Aces draw a power play early in the final period, but instead of putting the puck on the net they chose to run some passing drills for the two minute duration losing the momentum that they had built before the intermission. The roars that were promised in the start of the first period dissolved into kitten mews towards the end of the third.
In the final minutes of the game, Carr was pulled from the net and Aces front man Charlie Sampair connected with the back of the net and Alaska finally ditched the donut and got on the board with 1:02 remaining. They could not gain a tie goal, and the game ended with the Cincinnati Cyclones ahead by one goal.
The play on Wednesday night was fairly even. Both the Cyclones and the Aces came away Wednesday night 0/4 on power plays, the Aces had 28 shots on goal to the Cyclones 29, and the score was 2-1. These two teams meet again at The Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday night and again on Saturday night. The puck drops at 7:15 both evenings, and The Aces St. Patrick’s jerseys will be available for auction immediately following Friday night’s play.
Contact the author at Liz.Ortiz@prohockeynews.com
Follow the author on Twitter @LizOrtizPHN or @prohockeynews
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