Aces' first line pounces on Eagles in battle of top teams

Left wing Dan Kissel generated his third two-goal game in the last five matches and added an assist, right wing Wes Goldie furnished a goal and two helpers, and center Brian Swanson dished two assists.

All that continued the line's recent run of prosperity, helped build a 3-0 lead through two periods and allowed the league leaders to snuff Colorado's streak of 11 straight hockey games (9-0-2) without a loss in regulation.

Adam Courchaine, handed the Aces' goaltending reins with Gerald Coleman out for the series with an upper-body injury, stopped 19 shots to extend his string of games without a regulation loss to nine (6-0-3).

Still, the opener of the three-game set between the top two teams in the league -- the Aces (21-5-5) lead the 20-team circuit in points with 47 and the Eagles (18-9-3) own the league's second-best winning percentage (.650) -- pivoted on another strong night from Swanson's line.

Goldie and Swanson, both veterans, got off to spotty starts this season.

Goldie, the league's reigning Most Valuable Player and goal-scoring champ, scored three goals and eight points in his first 13 games. But he's bagged 13 goals in the last 16 games, and racked 11 points during his current five-game point streak.

Swanson, a point-per-game player last season when the Aces won the Kelly Cup, managed six assists, and no goals, in the first 15 games of the season. In the last 16 games, he has put up 4-14--18 totals.

Kissel, meanwhile, has been spot-on most of the season. Wednesday marked his fifth two-goal game of the season, gave him a team-leading 17 goals, one more than Goldie, and stretched his point streak to five games.

"He's playing well and, obviously, it's good to take advantage of that because he can score a lot of goals, in bunches,'' Goldie said.

Goldie said he felt he was the weak link early on for a line that has been together off-and-on during the season. Lately, though, the line has seemed in-synch and assertive.

"Now, instead of sitting back, we're all jumping up and creating turnovers,'' Goldie said.

The Aces' first goal, less than four minutes into the game, illustrated the point.

Goldie fore-checked Colorado defenseman Aaron Schneekloth along the right-wing wall in the Eagles' zone and Schneekloth's pass banked off Goldie's skate and back to Kissel between the circles. He flicked a wrist shot past Kyle Jones (21 saves) on the stick side.

"It's almost like, if you get a good start, you're going to have a good game,'' Kissel said. "If you get an early goal like tonight, it builds from there.''

Goldie and Kissel added second-period goals, with Swanson assisting on both strikes. Kissel's second of the night came when Jones got a piece of his glove on Goldie's shot and the puck ricocheted high into the air. Kissel, stationed along the goal line to the left of the cage, waited for the puck to come down below the height of the cross-bar -- to touch the puck with his stick higher than that four-foot mark would have whistled the play dead -- and back-handed it out of mid-air.

While the Aces were at full strength Wednesday with the ECHL maximum 16 skaters, the Eagles played with 13 skaters. They've been hit hard by injuries, a suspension and call-ups to the American Hockey League -- Chad Costello and former Ace Jack Combs, 1-2 in the ECHL scoring race, are both in the AHL.

Even so, the Eagles play a fast, attacking style.

"We like to dictate the game as much as we can,'' said Colorado captain Riley Nelson.

Despite the shortage of manpower, Colorado impressed as a skilled team, which is one reason it possesses the league's most potent offense.

"We don't change what we're doing,'' Nelson said. "We lose a guy by injury or call-up, that's another opportunity for another guy to get more minutes.''

The Eagles denied Courchaine the shutout when Michael Forney scored on a rebound with less than six minutes to go to stretch his point streak to nine games.

But the Aces, the league's top defensive team, limited the Eagles to 20 shots on goal, and Jordan Kremyr sealed victory with his empty-net goal in the final minute.

Shuffling the deck

Goldie, with 16-17--33 totals in 29 games, moved into fifth place among league scorers. Kissel, with 17-14--31 totals in 29 games, sits 10th in the scoring race.

The Aces extended their point streak to five games (2-0-3) heading into games Friday and Saturday nights against the Eagles.

Wednesday's game started an 11-game homestand for Alaska. It was also Colorado's eighth road game in the last 10. The Aces are 15-3-0 at Sullivan for a league-best .833 winning percentage on home ice. The Eagles are 10-4-2 on the road for a league-leading .688 winning percentage in away games.

At 2 hours, 5 minutes, Wednesday's game was the fastest Aces game this season, two minutes quicker than a 4-2 win over visiting Bakersfield on Nov. 5.

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

Colorado 0 0 1 -- 1

Aces 1 2 1 -- 4

First Period -- 1, Aces, Kissel 16 (Goldie), 3:30. Penalties -- Chorneyko, Colorado (interference), 11:44; Chorneyko, Colorado (tripping), 17:54.

Second Period -- 2, Aces, Goldie 16 (Kissel, Swanson), 5:52; 3, Aces, Kissel 17 (Goldie, Swanson), 13:52. Penalties -- Gentile, Aces (holding), 15:41; Vidmar, Colorado (boarding), 20:00.

Third Period -- 4, Colorado, Forney 12 (Huculak, Chorneyko), 14:19; 5, Aces, Kremyr 5 (Nunn, Anderson), 19:13 (en). Penalties -- Schneekloth, Colorado (slashing), 2:22; Harrison, Aces (tripping), 6:42.

Shots on goal -- Colorado 4-7-9--20. Aces 10-7-8--25.

Power-play Opportunities -- Colorado 0 of 4. Aces 0 of 2.

Goalies -- Colorado, Jones, 14-4-2 (24 shots-21 saves). Aces, Courchaine, 6-1-3 (20-19).

A -- 4,453 (6,399). T -- 2:05.

Referee -- Nick Leduc. Linesmen -- Steve Glines, Travis Jackson.