This is Lance Galbraith's time of the hockey season -- historically, he thrives in the rough-and-tumble environment of the playoffs, which is one reason he twice has hoisted the Kelly Cup.

Meanwhile, any time of the season appears to be Jean-Philippe Lamoureux's time.

Both the veteran winger and the rookie goaltender were instrumental in the Alaska Aces' 2-0 win over the persistent Utah Grizzlies to open the ECHL West Division semifinal series Friday night.

Galbraith's third-period goal before an announced crowd of 4,718 at Sullivan Arena provided the Aces a two-goal cushion, and Lamoureux authored yet another shutout to give the Aces a 1-0 advantage in the best-of-7 series

Galbraith's goal off Alexandre Imbeault's feed six minutes into the third gave Lamouruex a cushion -- not that he needed it. The rookie stopped 36 shots to start the postseason just like he finished the regular season -- with a shutout of Utah, his fourth this season. Lamoureux last Friday bageled the Grizzlies 3-0 to not only clinch the West Division and National Conference crowns for Alaska, but also to record his league-record eighth regular-season shutout.

Scoring in the playoffs, meanwhile, is status quo for Galbraith. In 2007, his 11 goals, 16 assists and 27 points in 21 games were all team highs for the Idaho Steelheads, who seized the ECHL's hockey hardware. In 2004, when the Steelheads likewise won the Cup, Galbraith provided 7-6--13 totals in 18 games.

"I enjoy it,'' Galbraith said of the playoffs. "It's not about one guy, though, or two guys. It's about a team coming together.''

Lamoureux, who was named the league's Goaltender of the Year and its All-Rookie backstop, never wavered in his pro playoff debut. Even when he made a glaring error -- his left his net to play the puck midway through the second period and promptly surrendered the biscuit to Utah stalwart Ryan Kinasewich -- he made up for his own mistake. Lamoureux backtracked to his net and dove to get a piece of his glove on a shot by Tom May, who received a pass from Kinasewich.

"I was able to battle to get some equipment across,'' Lamoureux said.

Even that split-second, when the game was still scoreless, proved pivotal. Less than six minutes later the Aces finally broke through against Grizzlies goalie Michael Mole (37 saves), albeit with a heaping helping of puck luck. Defenseman Bryan Miller, stationed just inside the blue line near mid-ice, tried to feather a power-play pass to Cam Keith at the right post. Utah defenseman Jordan Hart dove with his stick extended and inadvertently deflected the puck past Mole.

"It's good to have luck in the playoffs,'' Miller said.

Otherwise, only Galbraith's quick snap shot off Imbeault's pass was the only other shot that eluded Mole, who backstopped a team that carried play in the first period and belied both its 28-28-16 regular-season record and 2-7 regular-season mark against Alaska.

"We were happy with the way we played, but we came up short,'' Mole said. "It's a seven-game series, and no one's hitting the panic button.

"There were a lot of positives in this game for us, and we just need to work on a couple of things.''

Several Aces said the Grizzlies' grit and sound play -- Utah gave Alaska's power play fits -- was no surprise to them, even though the Aces won all five regular-season meetings at Sullivan.

"It's playoffs -- no game is going to be easy,'' Imbeault said.

Still, winning comes a touch easier with veterans like Galbraith and captain Scott Burt, who won the Cups with Galbraith in Idaho and also drew two penalties Friday, including the one that led to Miller's goal.

And all Lamoureux has done this season is win 34 of his 52 starts and continually stymie opposing shooters.

"All we need is a couple goals, and Phil will do the rest,'' Miller said.

Shuffling the deck

Aces center Josh Soares was held without a point for the first time in 13 games with the Aces this season.

Colin Hemingway's assist on Miller's goal was his first playoff point as a pro, though he had played just two pro playoff games before Friday. Miller's goal was his first playoff strike as a pro in six postseason games.

Galbraith fired a game-high six shots on goal.

Galbraith and Hart engaged in a little stick war before the opening puck was even dropped -- Hart lined up against Galbraith even though Hart is a defenseman and Galbraith a winger. In any event, both received minor slashing penalties before a second drained off the clock, though the infractions were officially recorded at one second into the match.

A moment of silence was observed before the game in memory of former Anchorage Aces coach Walt Poddubny, the former NHLer who died recently in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Poddubny was 49.

Elmira beat host Trenton, 5-4, in quadruple overtime Friday night to end the longest game in ECHL history at 126 minutes, 10 seconds.

Find Doyle Woody online at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.

Utah 0 0 0 -- 0

Aces 0 1 1 -- 2

First Period -- None. Penalties -- Galbraith, Aces (slashing), :01; Hart, Utah (slashing), :01; Beauchamp, Utah (tripping), 2:06; Turek, Aces (hooking), 4:59; Galbraith, Aces (holding), 10:58; Hart, Utah (kneeing), 14:03.

Second Period -- 1, Aces, Miller 1 (C. Hemingway), 16:47 (pp). Penalties -- Stefanishion, Aces (roughing), 5:23; Hart, Utah (cross-checking), 9:42; Verbeek, Utah, double minor (high-sticking), 12:59; Imbeault, Aces (slashing), 18:20.

Third Period -- 2, Aces, Galbraith 1 (Imbeault, Martin), 6:35. Penalties -- Wooddissee, Utah (hooking), 7:38; Thauwald, Utah (hooking), 15:21; Turek, Aces (hooking), 18:08.

Shots on goal -- Utah 10-13-13--36. Aces 7-13-19--39.

Power-play Opportunities -- Utah 0 of 5; Aces 1 of 7.

Goalies -- Utah, Mole 0-1 (39 shots-37 saves). Aces, Lamoureux 1-0 (36-36).

A -- 4,718 (6,396). T -- 2:21.