Call it a fortuitous fluke or prime puck luck, or a glorious gift.
Whatever the description, no player needed good fortune as much as Alaska Aces winger Brendan Connolly, who has been so snake-bitten it's a wonder his teammates haven't changed his nickname from Connie to Cobra. And the Aces feel they were due a beautiful bounce too.
Connolly's unusual second-period, power-play goal Saturday night -- afterward, he still was not certain how the puck found the net and called it a "good, cheap one'' -- stood up as the game-winner in the Aces' 2-1 victory over the Stockton Thunder at Sullivan Arena.
Alaska's victory before a season-high, announced crowd of 5,393, coupled with its 6-2 win Friday, marked the first time in 14 games this season it has won consecutive hockey games. Only three teams on the 28-team circuit have failed to deliver back-to-back wins -- looking at you, Utah Grizzlies, South Carolina Stingrays and Indy Fuel.
The Aces (5-9-0) used man-advantage strikes from defenseman Corey Syvret and Connolly 87 seconds apart midway through the game to jump from a one-goal deficit to a one-goal lead.
Syvret scored on a one-timer during a two-man advantage. Connolly followed with a scrambling goal to the left of Stockton goaltender Shane Owen, the former Ace. As Connolly was trying to control the puck and Thunder defenseman Loic Leduc was prone on the ice with his stick extended, a back-checking Thunder player flashed his stick blade toward Connolly's, presumably trying to nudge the puck to the end boards.
"He was trying to sweep it as I tried to pass it, and all of a sudden the puck was in the back of the net,'' Connolly said.
As a guy who has scored 22 or more goals each of the last four ECHL seasons but entered Saturday with just one goal on 33 shots in 13 games, Connolly will gladly take it.
Alaska's bang-bang goals came after it began to take control of the pace and possession in the second period, and with Stockton (4-9-0) leading 1-0 courtesy of Ryan Hayes' power-play goal late in the first period. Hayes grabbed a Tyler Maxwell rebound on his backhand, quickly moved to his forehand and roofed a shot on Niklas Lundstrom (14 saves).
On the heels of Friday's win, Alaska's first period looked lackluster -- errant passes, passes muffed, rhythm lacking. Granted, Owen has proved stingy to the Aces -- he stopped 49 shots in a win over Alaska in California last month. Also, Stockton in the first period played a more structurally sound game than Friday.
Aces center Jason Gregoire said coach Rob Murray asked for more from his club in the first intermission.
"He comes in between periods and really challenges us,'' Gregoire said. "He put the onus on us to turn the game around.''
Murray said he wasn't sure why his team lacked focus.
"We came out and played a solid game after that,'' Murray said. "I told them, 'We won a game (Friday) and felt good about ourselves. How about winning another game and feeling really good about ourselves?' "
Midway through the second period, the Aces, still trailing 1-0, led the Thunder in shots, 12-11. In the next 24-plus minutes, spanning the second and third periods, they outshot the Thunder, 21-1.
"We said, 'Let's get a good pushback in the second and see what we're made of,' '' Connolly said. "And in the third we said, 'Let's get pucks in deep, make them take it from us and go 200 feet.' "
The Aces outshot the Thunder 28-7 in the last 40 minutes. Stockton's 15 shots for the game marked the fewest by an Aces opponent this season.
Alaska has the chance to sweep Stockton in Sunday's series finale, a 3 p.m. matinee. And for all the strides the Aces have made the last two games, only a sweep would satisfy them because after Sunday they do not play again for 12 days.
Shuffling the deck
Syvret's goal was his fourth in 14 games, matching his career high -- he scored four goals in 59 games with ECHL Trenton in 2011-12.
Maverick-on-Maverick crime: Owens snuffed Aces winger Tyler Currier in the second period on Currier's point-blank rebound bid -- the two were teammates last season for the Missouri Mavericks, who then played in the Central Hockey League, and they went out to dinner earlier this week. Owens stopped four Currier shots Saturday.
Aces winger Olivier Archambault had an assist to boost his team-high points to 8-7—15 in 14 games. He's tied for the rookie lead in points and tied for seventh overall in league scoring.
Here's a gesture you don't often see: When Stockton defenseman Shawn Boutin boarded Gregoire -- that penalty gave the Aces their two-man advantage that sparked Syvret's goal -- Boutin checked with Gregoire to make sure the center was OK.
Former Aces winger Alex Belzile scored the game-winning overtime goal in Idaho's 2-1 win at Bakersfield on Saturday, which was Seinfeld Jersey Night at Rabobank Arena in California -- Condors players wore sweaters with name plates from characters in "Seinfeld.''
For the record, Bakersfield's goal was scored by Puddy (Sebastien Sylvestre), with assists from Seinfeld (Jim McKenzie) and Keith Hernandez (Josh Currie). The Whiz (Ty Rimmer) made 25 saves for the Condors.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockey-blog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
Stockton 1 0 0 -- 1
Aces 0 2 0 -- 2
First Period – 1, Stockton, Hayes 4 (Maxwell, Constant), 19:41 (pp). Penalties – Molle, Aces (cross-checking), 18:34.
Second Period – 2, Aces, Syvret 4 (Wolfe, Coffman), 11:07 (pp); 3, Aces, Connolly 2 (Archambault, Sproule), 12;34 (pp). Penalties – Sproule, Aces (roughing), 2:06; Currier, Aces (high-sticking), 4:36; Shattock, Stockton (kneeing), 10:28; Boutin, Stockton (boarding), 10:58.
Third Period -- None. Penalties – Archambault, Aces (unsportsmanlike conduct-diving), 3:41; Sutter, Stockton (cross-checking), 3:41; Boutin, Stockton (hooking), 4:20.
Shots on goal – Stockton 8-3-4—15. Aces 8-10-18—36.
Power-play Opportunities – Stockton 1 of 3. Aces 2 of 4.
Goalies – Stockton, Owen, 3-5-0 (36 shots-34 saves). Aces, Lundstrom, 4-6-0 (15-14).
A – 5,393 (6,399). T – 2:26.
Referee – Brett Sheva. Linesmen – Travis Jackson, Josh Ellis.