KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Friday evening proved rather eventful for the Alaska Aces -- they opened with a lethal goal-scoring binge, endured the Kalamazoo Wings' furious comeback, staged their own mid-game revival and finally mustered enough resolve to withstand one final surge in what Aces center Ethan Cox labeled "a suspenseful ending.''
After the chaos of Game 4 in the ECHL's Kelly Cup Finals was complete, the score sheet was longer than a Russian novel and the Aces owned a victory they didn't so much savor as survive.
Aces 7, K-Wings 5.
And -- exhale.
"It was the best game I've ever seen, and then it was like holding on for dear life,'' said Aces veteran winger Wes Goldie.
One thing is certain: The game at Wings Stadium did not bore an announced crowd of 3,863, which included a sizeable contingent of Aces fans and the Vicksburg (Mich.) High School band. A promotion called Frugal Fan Night also featured $1 beer and hot dogs.
In any event, an Aces victory that twice featured five-goal leads, and a game-changing and fortuitous blocked shot, left Alaska just one win shy of hoisting the Kelly Cup for the second time in five years.
The Aces, who won the Kelly Cup in 2006 by beating the Gwinnett Gladiators in five games, own a 3-1 lead over Kalamazoo in the best-of-7 series that resumes tonight with Game 5.
After eating a 4-1 loss Wednesday in Game 3 that marked their first playoff loss this spring and first loss of any kind since April 1, the Aces answered by blitzing the Wings for a 5-0 lead inside the opening 17 minutes.
The onslaught came courtesy of even-strength strikes by a winger from each of the three lines -- Tyler Ruegsegger, Goldie and Curtis Fraser -- and power-play rockets from defensemen Mark Isherwood and Daryl Boyle.
The five goals in less than a period -- "They came out like gang-busters,'' said K-Wings alternate captain Kory Karlander -- were more than the Aces scored in eight of their previous 10 playoff victories.
"They were focused in the locker room, intense and ready,'' said Aces coach Brent Thompson.
Alaska's bounty of goals prompted the departure of K-Wings goaltender Ryan Nie, who faced 17 first-period shots, after the intermission in favor of rookie Riley Gill.
Just as quickly as the Aces prospered, though, they soon faced peril.
Kalamazoo responded with a power-play goal from Andrew Fournier with 32 seconds left in the first period and Karlander's goal just 96 seconds into the second period.
By that point, the Aces were back so far on the heels of their skates they were on the verge of falling over.
And less than two minutes after Karlander's goal, Kalamazoo defenseman Mitch Versteeg enjoyed a glorious chance from the low slot during a sequence in which Aces goalie Gerald Coleman (30 saves) was down and out of his net and his teammates were in full-on scramble mode.
But Versteeg's quick shot struck Boyle in the back of the left leg and ricocheted away harmlessly.
"I knew there was a guy behind me, and luckily it hit me in the back of the leg,'' Boyle said. "You couldn't have asked for a luckier 'block.' ''
Luck was not considered so lovely in the home team's dressing room.
"At that point, that goes in and it's 5-3, and it's a lot tighter game,'' Karlander said. "But the big thing is when it was 5-2, we made a couple mistakes you can't make in a championship game, and we were down five goals again.
"That's a pretty good stack to work against.''
The five-goal deficit Karlander referenced came when Ruegsegger carried the puck out of his zone less than six minutes into the period, set sail with captain Scott Burt on a 2-on-1 and beat Gill with a right-wing wrister.
Burt, who played in his ECHL record 103 rd Kelly Cup game, followed three minutes later with a deflection of Isherwood's wrister from the center point to restore Alaska's five-goal cushion at 7-2.
Kalamazoo chipped away at the deficit with Aaron Clarke's power-play deflection later in the second period, a power-play deflection by Dean Strong 100 seconds into the third period and Karlander's second goal of the game with just 3:23 to go.
Suddenly, the Aces' lead was 7-5 and K-Wings pulled Gill for an extra attacker with 1:53 to go.
But Burt blocked a shot by K-Wings defenseman A.J. Thelen and Ruegsegger twice cleared the puck from the Aces' zone, once using his stick to bat the puck out of mid-air. Thompson said Ruegsegger did not give in to the natural inclination to let down one's guard when working with a couple of huge leads.
"He's the working-man's hockey player,'' Thompson said of Ruegsegger, who furnished two goals, one assist and a plus-three rating to be named first star. "He sacrifices his body, he'll take a hit to make a play. He does all the things you need to win.
"He didn't veer off the game plan, where a majority of guys followed human nature.''
After 2 hours, 30 minutes of an emotional roller-coaster, Thompson was left shaking his head about the twists and turns the game took.
"They were probably dumbfounded by our start, and we were shocked by how they finished,'' he said.
In the playoffs, though, a win is a win, and this one delivered the Aces to within one game of hoisting hardware.
"We made it more interesting than it should have been,'' Boyle said. "But the important thing is we got the win.''
Shuffling the deck
• The Aces had permitted playoff opponents just one power-play goal in 34 chances and the K-Wings zero power-play goals in nine chances entering Game 4, but surrendered two power-play goals and another goal that came three seconds after a K-Wings power play expired.
• Kalamazoo's first power-play goal snapped Alaska's streak of 18 consecutive penalty kills.
• Isherwood racked a three-point night with one goal and two helpers. Dan Kissel furnished an assist to stretch his point streak to seven games.
• Kalamazoo's Trent Daavettila recorded two assists to stretch his home-ice scoring streak to all nine playoff games at Wings Stadium and give him a playoff-leading 26 points in 17 games.
• The loss was just Kalamazoo's second playoff defeat in nine home games and snapped its four-game, home-ice winning streak.
Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.
Aces 5 2 0 -- 7
Kalamazoo 1 2 2 -- 5
First Period -- 1, Aces, Ruegsegger 3 (Isherwood, Burt), 2:06; 2, Aces, Goldie 3 (Howes, Anderson), 5:45; 3, Aces Fraser 5 (Langkow), 6:0; 4, Aces, Isherwood 2 (Goldie, Howes), 13:48 (pp); 5, Aces, Boyle 1 (Kissel), 16:28 (pp); 6, Kalamazoo, Fournier 6 (Daavettila, Strong), 19:28 (pp). Penalties -- Falite, Aces (slashing), 10:35; Daavettila, Kalamazoo (tripping), 12:50; Svendsen, Kalamazoo (boarding), 13:20; Thelen, Kalamazoo (hooking), 16:28; Burt, Aces (holding), 18:52.
Second Period -- 7, Kalamazoo, Karlander 6 (Clarke, O'Neill), 1:36; 8, Aces, Ruegsegger 4, 5:30; 9, Aces, Burt 2 (Isherwood, Ruegsegger), 8:32; 10, Kalamazoo, Landry 2 (Karlander, Taylor), 12:44. Penalties -- Aces bench minor, served by Falite (too many men), 10:41; Miller, Aces (tripping), 15:31.
Third Period -- 11, Kalamazoo, Strong 7 (Ftorek, Daavettila), 1:40 (pp); 12, Kalamazoo, Karlander 7 (Taylor, Landry), 16:37. Penalties -- Burt, Aces (cross-checking), :41; Taylor, Kalamazoo (delay of game-puck over glass), 9:30.
Shots on goal -- Aces 17-13-2--32. Kalamazoo 8-18-9--35.
Power-play Opportunities -- Aces 2 of 4; Kalamazoo 2 of 5.
Goalies -- Aces, Coleman, 10-1-0 (35 shots-30 saves). Kalamazoo, Nie, 12-4-2 (17-12); Gill, enter 0:00 2 nd period (15-13).
A -- 3,863 (5,113). T -- 2:30.
Referee -- Nick Krebsbach. Linesmen -- Ray King, Francis Trempe.
Kelly Cup Finals
Alaska at Kalamazoo
Aces lead best-of-7 series 3-1
Game 5: Today, 3:30 p.m. ADT, Kalamazoo, Mich.
TV: Live, GCI cable Channel 1
Radio: Live, AM-750 KFQD
By DOYLE WOODY
dwoody@adn.com