The Aces have spent the last two nights getting their heads handed to them, and their matinee today is their last chance on this leg of the journey to re-attach their melons.
Saturday, the Bakersfield Condors sent Aces starting goaltender Scott Reid packing in less than three minutes, crucified the Aces with four goals inside the first 13 minutes and delivered a 7-4 thrashing of the visitors at Rabobank Arena.
That punishment -- the score was somewhat misleading, given two Aces short-handed goals late -- came on top of Bakersfield's 6-2 victory Friday. That win came courtesy of four power-play strikes, a short-handed goal, a 4-on-4 goal and a 39-18 advantage in shots.
Saturday played out like a continuation of that domination by the Condors (11-6-0).
Dan Sexton, the rookie winger out of Bowling Green, continued to state his case for ECHL Player of the Week. He bagged his first professional hat trick and racked a plus-2 rating while unloading six shots on goal. Friday, he filleted the Aces (8-6-2) for four assists and a plus-2 rating, and cranked off eight shots.
Sexton jammed a rebound past Reid just 74 seconds into the game. Former UAF forward Adam Naglich beat Reid with a backhander to the short side just 70 seconds later to furnish the Condors a 2-0 lead and prompt Aces coach Brent Thompson to yank Reid in favor of Sebastian Dahm.
Andrew Ianiero greeted Dahm with a power-play strike, and Sexton's short-handed goal pushed the lead to 4-0 after just 12:24 of play.
Even the Aces' modest comeback hopes, given some sliver of possibility on Colin Hemingway's team-high 10 th goal in the second period, were dashed almost immediately.
Mathieu Aubin scored just 22 seconds after Hemingway's goal and Sexton completed his hat trick less than two minutes later to stake Bakersfield to a 6-1 cushion.
Off-ice officials in Bakersfield already had Sexton listed as the No. 1 star of the game on the electronic score sheet after two periods.
Nick Mazzolini scored for the Aces early in the third period, and T.J. Fast and Curtis Fraser added short-handed goals late before Aubin's empty netter.
The Aces own a league-leading nine short-handed goals in just 16 matches. They have scored only 13 power-play goals, by comparison, went 0 for 10 with the man advantage Friday and are just 3 for 48 on the power play in the last nine games.
Alaska outshot Bakersfield, 36-29, marking just the second time it has outshot an opponent this season.
The Aces close their three-game visit to Bakersfield with today's game at 4 p.m. AST.
Shuffling the deck
• Aces captain Scott Burt sat out with the flu.
• Hemingway has provided points in 14 of 16 games.
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Aces 0 1 3 -- 4
Bakersfield 4 2 1 -- 7
First Period -- 1, Bakersfield, Sexton 9 (Weller), 1:14; 2, Bakersfield, Naglich 2 (MacMillan, Pokulok), 2:24; 3, Bakersfield, Ianiero 4 (Guyer, Goulet), 5:23 (pp); 4, Bakersfield, Sexton 10, 12:24 (sh). Penalties -- Regan, Bakersfield (hooking), :42; Boguniecki, Aces (interference), :56; Galbraith, Aces (tripping), 3:46; Lizon, Bakersfield, major (fighting), 5:30; Johnson, Aces, major (fighting), 5:30; Naglich, Bakersfield (tripping), 9:01; Goulet, Bakersfield (delay of game), 11:37; Lizon, Bakersfield, major (fighting), 14:27; Johnson, Aces, major (fighting), 14:27; Fast, Aces (tripping), 18:09.
Second Period -- 5, Aces, Hemingway 10 (Imbeault), 13:24; 6, Bakersfield, Aubin 3 (Goulet, Bickel), 13:46; 7, Bakersfield, Sexton 11 (Weller), 15:27. Penalties -- Ryznar, Aces (tripping), 6:17; Martin, Aces (tripping), 8:22; Weller, Bakersfield (roughing), 9:33; Tuzzolino, Aces (high-sticking), 9:51; Boguniecki, Aces (tripping), 16:52.
Third Period -- 8, Aces, Mazzolini 3 (Galbraith, Miller), 4:37; 9, Aces, Fast 2 (Ryznar, Mazzolini), 12:59 (sh); 10, Aces, Fraser 2, 14:55 (sh); 11, Bakersfield, Aubin 4 (de Gray, Mitera), 19:46 (en). Penalties -- Mitera, Bakersfield (interference), :31; Regan, Bakersfield (delay of game), 1:33; Bickel, Bakersfield (high-sticking), 2:02; Naglich, Bakersfield (hooking), 8:31; MacMillan, Bakersfield (roughing), 10:58; Johnson, Aces, major-game misconduct (checking from behind), 10:58; Weller, Bakersfield (holding the stick), 11:25; Sexton, Bakersfield (slashing), 16:26.
Shots on goal --Aces 8-13-15--36. Bakersfield 8-16-5--29.
Power-play Opportunities -- Aces 0 of 10; Bakersfield 1 of 8.
Goalies -- Aces, Reid (4 shots-2 saves); Dahm, enter 2:24 first, 5-5-0 (24-20). Bakersfield, Pogge, 6-2-0 (36-32).
A -- 4,520 (9,000). T -- 2:38.
Referee -- Shane Warschaw. Linesmen -- Steven Berry, Brent Tubbs.
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