Alaska Aces Hockey

Condors rally to beat Aces 3-2

The Bakersfield Condors stormed back from a two-goal deficit and won a shootout in eight rounds Sunday afternoon for a 3-2 ECHL win over the Alaska Aces at Sullivan Arena.

Andrew Carroll beat Gerald Coleman to the stick side to give the Condors the 2-1 edge in the shootout.

Coleman made 25 saves in regulation and overtime, and former Aces backstop Laurent Brossoit made 36 saves.

Travis Gawryletz, a defenseman playing wing because the Condors were short bodies, forged a 2-2 tie for Bakersfield early in the third period when he punched home a rebound of his own breakaway. Coleman got a piece of his glove on the initial shot but could only knock it down and watch Gawryletz convert.

Gawryletz's goal closed a dominating opening couple minutes of the period for the Condors.

The Aces jumped the Condors early, banking a couple goals in the opening six-plus minutes.

Alex Belzile's first goal in four games since joining the club following a trade with Gwinnett delivered a 1-0 lead just three minutes in. Belzile beat Brossoit high to the stick side with a high-slot one-timer off Tyler Mosienko's feed.

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That goal marked Alaska's first even-strength strike in the three-game series -- until Belzile's marker, the Aces had generated five power-play goals and two-shorthanded strikes in winning 3-0 Friday and 4-2 Saturday.

Aces defenseman Brad Richard's power-play one-timer off a Nick Mazzolini feed pushed the lead to 2-0. Aces winger Brendan Connolly screened Brossoit and got a piece of the goalie as Richard's shot arrived, which left Brossoit unhappy with referee Chris Pitoscia.

Brossoit stopped all 15 Aces shots in the second period to keep his club, which was playing with just 14 skaters, two shy of the maximum, within striking distance. And the Condors closed their gap to 2-1 late in the period, just seven seconds after a power play expired. Erik Burgdoerfer's shot from the right point banked off Andrew Carroll and high into the net.

The Condors were short because forward Jordan Knackstadt was called up by Abbotsford of the American Hockey League, Alaska's affiliate, in mid-trip while traveling here Thursday. And forward Chris Collins was suspended by the ECHL, pending a hearing, for his boarding major penalty against Belzile on Saturday.

The Aces played without defensemen Zach McKelvie, who appeared dazed after a hit in Saturday's game, and James Martin, who was out with a minor upper-body injury not expected to hold him out of the lineup for long.

In all this season, 16 different Aces have already missed a combined 301 games to injury, according to an unofficial tally. That puts the club on pace to endure the most missed games because of injuries in the last six seasons. Last season, 21 different players missed a combined 334 games.

Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog

Condors win shootout 2-1 in 8 rounds

Bakersfield 0 1 1 1 3

Aces 2 0 0 0 2

First Period - 1, Aces, Belzile 1 (Mosienko, Parker), 3:00; 2, Aces, Richard 6 (Mazzolini, MacKenzie), 6:16 (pp). Penalties - Little, Bakersfield (tripping), 5:50; Neal, Bakersfield (delay of game-puck over glass), 9:31; Mazzolini, Aces (holding), 13:03; Bakersfield bench minor, served by Watson (too many men), 14:58; Molle, Aces, minor-major-misconduct (removing helmet, fighting), 17:44; Carroll, Bakersfield, minor-major (removing helmet, fighting), 17:44.

Second Period - 3, Bakersfield, Carroll 8 (Burgdoerfer, Miller), 16:45. Penalties - MacKenzie, Aces (interference), 3:47; Parker, Aces (roughing), 5:02; Watson, Bakersfield (roughing), 5:02; Syvret, Aces (hooking), 5:15; Little, Bakersfield (tripping), 12:46; Richard, Aces (contact to head), 14:38.

Third Period - 4, Bakersfield, Gawryletz 1 (Bowman, Hughes), 2:12. Penalties - Curry, Aces, major (fighting), 12:32; Steffes, Bakersfield, minor-major (instigator, fighting), 12:32.

Overtime -- None. Penalties - MacKenzie, Aces (holding), 4:43.

Shootout - Bakersfield 2 (Miller, NG, Thurber NG, Burgdoefer NG, Neal G, Watson NG, Schraber NG, Hughes NG, Carroll G), Aces 1 (Sivak NG, Connolly G, Taranto NG, Belzile NG, Mele NG, Morrison NG, Mosienko NG, Syvret NG)..

Shots on goal - Bakersfield 6-12-7-2--27. Aces 5-15-13-5--38.

Power-play Opportunities - Bakersfield 0 of 5. Aces 1 of 5.

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Goalies - Bakersfield, Brossoit, 20-7-2 (38 shots-36 saves). Aces, Coleman, 12-5-3 (27-25).

A - 4,117 (6,399). T - 2:46.

Referee - Chris Pitoscia. Linesmen - Travis Jackson, Josh Ellis.

By DOYLE WOODY

dwoody@adn.com

Doyle Woody

Doyle Woody covered hockey and other sports for the Anchorage Daily News for 34 years.

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