The Alaska Aces' scoring avalanche began cascading over the Victoria Salmon Kings early Saturday night, and it proved as unrelenting as it was suffocating. In the course of burying the Salmon Kings 8-2 before a throaty, cowbell-ringing crowd of 5,533 partisans at Sullivan Arena, the Aces raced out to a three-goal lead before the first intermission, generated five power-play goals, chased Victoria goaltender Todd Ford and protected their home-ice advantage.

All that assured them that, at worst, the best-of-7 ECHL West Division finals series they lead 2-0 will return to Anchorage.

Buoyed by a five-point explosion from winger Colin Hemingway, the Aces held serve in a series that now moves to Victoria for Game 3 Wednesday, Game 4 Friday and, if necessary, Game 5 Saturday.

Aces captain Scott Burt scored two goals, Josh Soares and Cam Keith each added one goal and two assists, and goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux rebuffed 35 shots. Twelve of Alaska's 16 skaters registered a least one point, and t he Aces won their 10th straight game on home ice, dating back to the regular season.

Things went so well for the Aces that Soares earned an assist on Burt's game-opening goal by using his skate to kick the puck to Hemingway after he broke his hockey stick during a faceoff.

And for an Aces club that in the regular season occasionally lapsed into cruise control with a big lead, Saturday's game played out as if they had their collective foot nailed to the floorboard -- the Aces never let off the gas.

"We were definitely determined and focused tonight,'' Hemingway said.

He scored one goal and assisted on four others to complement his one-goal, one-assist production in Alaska's 3-0 Game 1 win Friday.

"It was one of those games where it seemed every time the puck touched my stick something good happened,'' Hemingway said. "Those are the games that are fun to play.''

Just as they did in Friday's win, when they earned a 2-0 lead just 16 minutes, 34 seconds into the game, the Aces on Saturday cracked Ford in the opening 16:34. Only this time they racked three goals in that span, getting an even-strength strike from Burt and power-play goals from Hemingway and Alexandre Imbeault.

"We didn't play a bad game,'' said Victoria center Olivier Filion, the former Aces pivot. "Their power play is very good. We gave them the chance, and they took it.''

Keith and defenseman Ryan Turek sandwiched second-period goals around a deflection goal by Victoria's Darryl Lloyd to balloon Alaska's advantage to 5-1 through two periods. Ford, who stopped just nine of 14 shots Saturday and has allowed eight goals on 40 shots in the series, gave way to Julien Ellis in the third period. The Aces peppered Ellis for three goals, and reeled off their eight-goal outburst on just 22 shots.

Lloyd's goal was the first Lamoureux has surrendered in four playoff games at Sullivan during this Kelly Cup campaign and the first power-play goal the Aces have given up in six playoff games. Lamoureux's shutout streak at Sullivan, which dated back to the regular season, was stopped at 2:44:21, the equivalent of more than four regulation games.

The Aces have gone 6-1 in the playoffs - they eliminated Utah in five games in the first round - and have been aided by the return of Soares from the American Hockey League, which also provided them defensemen Tyson Marsh and T.J. Fast.

"With the guys we have - and with Marsh and Fast jumping in, and Soares coming back - we're really clicking,'' Burt said. "Right now, it's fun to be in our dressing room.''

While the Aces never let up, neither did a crowd that spent much of the evening in full roar.

"It's just intimidating, seriously,'' Filion said.

Still, the Aces expect to face just that kind of raucous crowd when the series transfers to the Save-on-Foods Centre in Victoria.

As much as the Aces were happy to take the first two games of the series - the general consensus was those were arguably their two most complete games this season - they know that two games do not a seven-game series make.

"Right now,'' Burt said 10 minutes after Saturday's game, "we're focused on Wednesday in Victoria.''

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

Victoria 0 1 1 -- 2

Aces 3 2 3 -- 8

First Period -- 1, Aces, Burt 1 (C. Hemingway, Soares), 11:18; 2, Aces, C. Hemingway 3 (Keith, Shasby), 15:24 (pp); 3, Aces, Imbeault 2 (Miller, C. Hemingway), 16:34 (pp). Penalties -- Lamoureux, Aces, served by Galbraith (delay of game), 5:00; Galbraith, Aces (charging), 7:11; Howes, Victoria (holding), 13:43; Fast, Aces (slashing), 14:02; Filion, Victoria (hooking), 14:44; Soares, Aces (unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:44; Labelle, Victoria (unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:44; C. Hemingway, Aces (holding), 18:40; Lloyd, Victoria (roughing), 18:40.

Second Period - 4, Aces, Keith 2 (C. Hemingway, Miller), 9:40 (pp); 5, Victoria, Lloyd 1 (Goldie), 13:30 (pp); 6, Aces, Turek 1 (Galbraith, Imbeault), 19:12. Penalties - Shasby, Aces (hooking), 5:50; Burt, Aces (roughing), 7:46; O'Connor, Victoria, double minor, served by Howes (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct), 7:46; Shasby, Aces (holding), 11:44; Lamoureux, Aces, served by Galbraith (unsportsmanlike conduct), 13:30.

Third Period - 7, Aces, Soares 5 (C. Hemingway, Keith), 4:33; 8, Aces, Burt 2 (Soares, Shasby), 8:59 (pp); 9, Aces, Kana 1 (B. Hemingway, Fast), 13:13 (pp); 10, Victoria, Howes 3 (Brocklehurst, Leavold), 17:59 (pp). Penalties - Lloyd, Victoria (hooking), :40; Filion, Victoria (interference), 7:07; Howes, Victoria (misconduct), 7:07; Galbraith, Aces (unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:30; Yeo, Victoria, double minor, served by Leavold (unsportsmanlike conduct, cross-checking), 8:30; Victoria bench minor, served by O'Connor (delay of game), 8:30; Keith, Aces (holding), 11:10; Labelle, Victoria (slashing), 11:33; Filion, Victoria (hooking), 12:29; Galbraith, Aces (roughing), 15:05; Marsh, Aces, minor-misconduct, served by Galbraith (unsportsmanlike conduct), 17:45; Shasby, Aces (cross-checking), 18:24; Martin, Aces (roughing), 19:02; Lloyd, Victoria (roughing), 19:02.

Shots on goal - Victoria 8-14-15--37. Aces 5-9-8--22.

Power-play Opportunities - Victoria 2 of 9; Aces 5 of 10.

Goalies - Victoria, Ford, 4-2 (14 shots-9 saves), Ellis, 0:00 3rd period (8-5). Aces, Lamoureux, 6-1 (37-35).

A - 5,533 (6,396). T - 2:36.

Referee - Jason Nissen. Linesmen - Scott Sivulich, Steve Glines.

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