Steelheads snap Aces' streak

Idaho, buoyed by Jacob Cepis' three-point performance and Jerry Kuhn's 31 saves, beat the Aces 4-2 at Sullivan Arena to deliver its fifth consecutive victory over the ECHL leaders.

The Steelheads snapped the Aces' nine-game winning streak.

And their 13-game point streak.

And their 10-game, home-ice winning streak.

And Aces goaltender Adam Courchaine's streak of 15 straight games without a loss in regulation.

"They have our number for some reason,'' said Aces alternate captain Steve Ward. "They always seem to hang around and never seem to get overwhelmed.''

This time, the Steelheads didn't even require extra time -- their previous four wins over the Aces, all in Boise, came twice in overtime and twice in shootouts.

Even so, the Aces (29-6-5) still lead the league by nine points heading into tonight's series finale, which caps Alaska's 11-game homestand.

Kuhn, who improved to 5-1 against the Aces this season, is the common denominator in Idaho's recent success against the Kelly Cup champions, although it is worth noting that success comes with a caveat. Although Idaho has won five straight against Alaska, the Aces have gone 12-1-4 in their last 17 matches with the Steelheads.

Kuhn's strong work against Alaska dates back to last spring's playoffs, when the Aces swept the Steelheads in four games but had to work hard for it because of Kuhn's excellence. This season, he has picked up where he left off.

"He's been phenomenal,'' Cepis said.

Courchaine, who was 12-0-3 in last 15 starts previous to Friday, tipped his mask to his fellow member of the goaltending union.

"He's stolen points from us all season,'' Courchaine said. "I can't say enough good things about him.''

Cepis furnished the game- winning goal, his second strike of the night, on a gorgeous deflection over Courchaine's stick-side shoulder less than seven minutes into the third period. That forged Idaho's first lead of the night at 3-2.

Idaho defenseman Jake Coyle, stationed at the left point, avoided the attempted shot-block of Aces winger Wes Goldie and whipped the puck on net. Cepis, positioned in the slot with his back to the net, deflected the shot top shelf for his 13th goal.

"I've been shooting the puck a lot and waiting to be rewarded, and tonight I was,'' said Cepis, the former Minnesota skater.

His deflection was nearly impossible to stop.

"I was a little deep in my net looking for the puck, but when a guy makes a deflection like that, there's not much you can do,'' Courchaine said.

Cepis, a 5-foot-8, 185-pounder who plays on a line with Derek LeBlanc (6-2, 215) and Michael Neal (6-3, 220) -- "Two big guys and a tiny guy,'' Cepis said -- set up Michael Gergen's power-play, empty-net goal with 25.2 seconds left to seal victory.

Alaska got both its goals from Goldie, who has scored five goals in the last three games and twice furnished it with leads Friday.

Goldie opened the scoring midway through the first period when he fired into an open net -- Kuhn had sold out on Tyler Ruegsegger, who eschewed shooting to pass to Goldie.

The Steelheads (18-17-3) gained a 1-1 tie when early in the second period when David Fredriksson's back-hand wraparound banked off the skate of teammate Patrick Kennedy and through Courchaine's pads. Kennedy appeared to pivot his skate to direct the puck, but did not make a distinct kicking motion.

Goldie's power-play one-timer from atop the left circle midway through the second period marked his team-leading 22nd goal and generated a 2-1 lead. But Cepis struck a mere 17 seconds later for a 2-2 tie when LeBlanc's pass put him in alone on Courchaine.

"That was deflating,'' Ward said.

After Cepis' deflection gave Idaho the lead, the Steelheads killed an Aces power play and Kuhn made the lead stand.

"We had the grade A chances and we got the puck to the net from the point,'' Ward said. "We had our chances.''

To Cepis, Friday's game could have gone either way.

"That's two good teams playing like it's a playoff hockey game,'' he said. "Two teams that really wanted it, and we got some bounces.''

Shuffling the deck

Nick Mazzolini assisted on both Goldie's goals.

Goldie now has 357 career ECHL goals, 11 shy of tying Rod Taylor's all-time mark.

Two Aces defensemen made their season debuts with the club. Former Aces defenseman Tyson Marsh, who started the season in Germany before recently signing with Alaska, played his first ECHL game of the season. Ditto for Benn Olson, assigned to the Aces from Bridgeport of the AHL, also played his first game with the club.

Center Ethan Cox returned to the lineup after missing five games with an upper-body injury. Captain Brian Swanson missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury and winger Matt Ambroz missed his fifth straight with an upper-body injury.

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

Idaho 0 2 2 -- 4

Aces 1 1 0 -- 2

First Period -- 1, Aces, Goldie 21 (Ruegsegger, Mazzolini), 3:27. Penalties -- Kissel, Aces (hooking), 13:55; Anderson, Aces (check to head), 16:44.

Second Period -- 2, Idaho, Kennedy 4 (Fredriksson, Case), 5:34; 3, Aces, Goldie 22 (Ward, Mazzolini), 11:47 (pp); 4, Idaho, Cepis 12 (LeBlanc), 12:04. Penalties -- Hobbins, Idaho (hooking), 11:29; Anderson, Aces, major (fighting), 15:56; LeBlanc, Idaho, major (fighting), 15:56.

Third Period -- 5, Idaho, Cepis 13 (Coyle, Plekhanov), 6:35; 6, Idaho, Gergen 5 (Cepis, Scoran), 19:34 (pp-en). Penalties -- Case, Idaho (interference), :35; Plekhanov, Idaho (interference), 13:44; Cox, Aces (hooking), 17:59.

Shots on goal -- Idaho 5-9-6--20. Aces 10-10-13--33.

Power-play Opportunities -- Idaho 1 of 3. Aces 1 of 3.

Goalies -- Idaho, Kuhn, 12-13-3 (33 shots-31 saves). Aces, Courchaine, 12-2-3 (19-16).

A - 4,676 (6,399). T - 2:18.

Referee -- Joe Sullivan. Linesmen -- Scott Sivulich, Steve Glines.