Coming off their longest break of the season, a 10-day holiday hiatus from hockey, the Alaska Aces on Tuesday night delivered the longest winning streak of coach Brent Thompson's two seasons behind their bench.
Buoyed by young legs -- the Aces' goals were all scored by rookies -- Alaska shook off a scare from the severely undermanned Idaho Steelheads and produced a 3-2 win at Sullivan Arena that stretched their ECHL winning streak to five games.
That's the franchise's best stretch since a six-game winning streak in March 2009, the season the Aces made it to Game 7 of the Kelly Cup Finals.
Lethargic performances aren't unusual in a club's first game back from a long break, and while the Aces (16-9-1) weren't surpassingly crisp with passing and shooting, they looked like a team with fresh legs.
Granted, their 43-10 advantage in shots stemmed in part from Idaho's short bench -- and that's the fewest shots Alaska has allowed in a game this season -- but the Aces didn't dally.
"Personally, my legs felt really good, and a lot of guys said theirs did, too,'' said Aces rookie winger Jerad Stewart, who bagged the first goal just 70 seconds into the game.
Idaho (13-11-6) dressed just 13 skaters, three shy of the ECHL maximum of 16. For the Steelheads, that broke down to eight forwards and five defensemen, though blueliners Steve Oleksy and Tyler Ludwig logged shifts on the wing to give the Steelheads three full forward lines. Of course, that left them with just two defensive pairings.
Idaho alternate captain John Swanson, who scored one goal and assisted on the other, said the Steelheads didn't generate enough pressure on the Aces and relied too heavily on rookie goaltender Jase Weslosky, who racked 40 saves in a splendid effort.
"We didn't force them; we were on the perimeter and didn't force their (defensemen) to make hard plays,'' Swanson said.
Alaska's game-winning goal came largely courtesy of three rookies. After veteran defenseman Bryan Miller sprung rookie winger Garry Nunn on the right wing, he set sail for Idaho's zone with fellow rookie winger Kory Falite for company and rookie center Chris Langkow skating hard to give the home team a 3-on-2 rush.
Nunn left a drop pass for Langkow on right wing as Falite hustled to the net, and Nunn then skated to the inside of the left circle, where he one-timed Langkow's return feed past Weslosky for a 3-1 lead.
"He made a beautiful pass,'' Nunn said of Langkow. "Great vision by him, and a great play.''
That goal became critical when Idaho cut the margin to 3-2 with a power-play strike less than six minutes into the third period. Swanson was credited with the goal on his shot from the left point, although he thought rookie center Kael Mouillierat tipped it past Aces goalie Gerald Coleman.
"At that point, we were lucky,'' Swanson said. "Our goaltender was outstanding - he's the reason it was 3-2. We can't expect to score two goals on 10 shots.''
The shot that produced the 3-2 score marked Idaho's last shot on goal of the night -- the Steelheads were not credited with a shot in the final 14:17.
Though the Steelheads made a push for a few shifts after pulling within one goal, the Aces tried to use their superior numbers to wear down the visitors.
"Push the pace, push the pace,'' said Aces defenseman Chad Anderson. "We've got the speed advantage, so we have to utilize it.''
The teams traded first-period power-play goals after Stewart's goal gave Alaska a 1-0 lead. Idaho countered with Matt Tassone's strike on a rebound, but Alaska answered on Falite's rebound of a Steve Ward blast.
After that, Weslosky proved especially stingy. He robbed Zach Harrison at the left post late in the first period. He stymied Brian Swanson from point-blank range midway through the second period. And he caught a break when Aces sniper Wes Goldie fired high on a penalty shot with less than eight minutes left in the game.
Shuffling the deck
• Goldie played his 581 st ECHL regular-season game, tying him for 10 th all-time on the league's list of games played.
• Maxime Tanguay's assists on first-period goals from Stewart and Falite -- one of those helpers may disappear after a review, though -- gives him five assists in the last four games.
• The 23 penalty shots issued in the ECHL this season have yielded just seven goals.
• While the Aces have scored at least one power-play goal in four straight games, they have also surrendered at least one power-play goal in seven straight games. Opposing power plays have converted 26.7 percent of the time (8 of 27) in that span.
• Alaska is 11-0-0 when leading after two periods.
• The Aces improved to 5-1-0 on their current 12-game homestand, which continues tonight with the series finale against Idaho and Friday and Saturday nights against Ontario, a 6-3 winner at Victoria on Tuesday.
• The Aces leapfrogged the Steelheads and moved into second place in the Mountain Division with 33 points, three behind Utah. The Aces, however, do have a slight advantage over the Grizzlies in winning percentage, .635 to .621.
• Alaska is tied for second in the National Conference with Pacific Division-leading Las Vegas, which owns the conference's best winning percentage (.660).
Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.
Idaho 1 0 1 - 2
Aces 2 0 1 - 3
First Period - 1, Aces, Stewart 5 (Tanguay), 1:10; 2, Idaho, Tassone 3 (Tardy, J. Swanson), 10:14 (pp); 3, Aces, Falite 4 (Ward, Tanguay), 14:09
(pp). Penalties - Dzielski, Aces (tripping), 9:02; Neal, Idaho (slashing), 12:30.
Second Period - None. Penalties - Ludwig, Idaho (hooking), :56; Tanguay, Aces (high-sticking), 16:44.
Third Period - 4, Aces, Nunn 3 (Langkow, Miller), 2:11; 5, Idaho, J. Swanson 7 (Oleksy, Derlago), 5:43. Penalties - Miller, Aces (hooking), 4:57.
Shots on goal - Idaho 3-5-2-10. Aces 18-14-11-43.
Missed penalty shot - Goldie, Aces, 12:22 third period.
Power-play Opportunities - Idaho 2 of 3; Aces 1 of 2.
Goalies - Idaho, Weslosky, 2-3-0 (43 shots-40 saves). Aces, Coleman, 12-7-1 (10-8).
A - 4,099 (6,396). T - 2:14.
Referee - Jarrod Ragusin. Linesmen - Travis Jackson, Chad Colliander.
By DOYLE WOODY
dwoody@adn.com