Brendan Connolly plans to get a massage Monday. Tim Coffman vows to do a whole lot of "absolutely nothing.'' Corey Syvret anticipates substantial rest and relaxation.
Makes sense, given the Alaska Aces' three-game, series-sweeping 3-1 win over the Stockton Thunder on Sunday afternoon wrapped a stretch of ECHL scheduling that was borderline unconscionable -- nine hockey games and two travel days in a span of 12 days.
Still, the Aces, who enter a stretch of 12 days between games, hit their hiatus buoyed by four wins in the last five games.
"Not as tired as I thought I'd be when I looked at the schedule,'' said forward Jason Gregoire. "It's amazing what the mind can do to the body with some positives. But bumps and bruises? Sure, gotta rest up.''
Gregoire is also headed to the dentist. He took a stick to the mouth in the late going Sunday at Sullivan Arena, leaving one of his upper front teeth with some wiggle.
Aces coach Rob Murray won't hold the club's next practice until Wednesday so his players can soothe their aches and get some rest.
"Those were deserved wins by our team,'' Murray said. "It makes it a whole lot easier to walk away from the rink when you feel good about yourself.''
Nor did it hurt Alaska (6-9-0) to have Stockton (4-10-0) on the docket these last three games, in which they outscored the visitors 11-4 -- the Aces won 6-2 Friday night and 2-1 Saturday night. The Thunder have lost eight of their last nine games and have supplanted the Aces at the bottom of the standings in the seven-team Pacific Division. The Aces rose to fifth place.
The Aces bagged their sweep courtesy of one goal and one assist from linemates Gregoire and Chris Francis, Olivier Archambault's team-leading ninth goal and 27 saves from rookie goaltender Niklas Lundstrom. Lundstrom won all three games in the series, dropping his goals-against average to 3.18 from 4.00 and raising his save percentage to .881 from .860.
Also, the line of Gregoire, Francis and Brendan Connolly emerged as a consistent threat. They provided much-needed supplemental scoring after the line of Coffman centering wingers Archambault and Greg Wolfe, which carried the scoring load most of the early season.
The Aces jumped to a 1-0 lead just three minutes into the game when Connolly, Francis and Gregoire delivered a tic-tac-toe play on a 4-on-2 rush. Connolly carried the puck in on left wing and wheeled a pass to Francis on right wing. Francis found Gregoire driving to the net and Gregoire caught Francis' pass on his forehand before tucking a backhander behind former Aces goalie Shane Owen (34 saves).
Stockton defenseman Ryan Constant forged a 1-1 tie later in the first period when his power-play wrister beat Lundstrom glove side, rang off the right pipe and in.
Yet the Aces, who in their first seven home games (1-6-0) were outscored 13-1 in second periods, continued to thrive in the second period against the Thunder.
Archambault swept in a rebound of defenseman Brad Richard's shot just three seconds after a power play expired and Francis snapped a power-play shot that Owens got a piece of before it trickled over the goal line. That outburst produced a 3-1 Aces lead and gave them a series advantage of 8-1 in second periods against the Thunder.
Though the Aces still are three games below .500, they're a tired bunch, but happy to no longer be six games below .500.
"First word to come to mind is 'sore,' '' Connolly said. " 'Happy' too. Three wins at home is what we needed.
"That hole could have got a lot deeper had we not pushed back. I'm really proud of the guys.''
Shuffling the deck
Sunday's game turned rugged in the third period.
Aces defenseman Brad Cole winged a flurry of punches on Thunder defenseman Loic Leduc after Leduc jostled Alaska's Tyler Currier and Cole. When Stockton's Tyler Shattock boarded Alaska defenseman Colten Hayes – Shattock received a major penalty for that – Aces defenseman Corey Syvret fought Shattock and fared well.
In three games against the Aces, Owen has gone 1-2-0 but has furnished fabulous work, namely a .951 save percentage. Stockton's Constant had a point in each game of the series and has at least one point in six of the last seven games. Stockton winger Peter Sivak, who helped the Aces win the Kelly Cup in June, was held without a point in the series despite firing 11 shots. His tripping penalty late in the game marked his first penalty in nine ECHL games this season. Last season, Sivak was whistled for just five minor penalties in 77 combined regular season and playoff games with the Aces.
With 9-7—16 totals in 15 games, Archambault is tied for the league lead in points with three other players. All three have played at least three fewer games than Archambault, who is tied for third on the circuit in goals. Archambault has at least one point in three straight games, eight of the last nine and 10 of the last 12.
The Aces are off until they entertain the Idaho Steelheads on Nov. 28-29. After that, 12 of Alaska's next 18 games are on the road. So far, the Aces have played 10 of their 15 games at home.
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 1 2 0 3
First Period – 1, Aces, Gregoire 4 (Francis, Connolly), 3:07; 2, Stockton, Constant 1 (Henry, Shattock), 12:57 (pp). Penalties – Johnson, Aces (elbowing), 12:27; MacLellan, Stockton (slashing), 14:10.
Second Period – 3, Aces, Archambault 9 (Richard, Coffman), 8:13; 4, Aces, Francis 3 (Gregoire, Connolly), 14:10 (pp). Penalties – Henry, Stockton (hooking), 6:10; Henry, Stockton (tripping), 13:35; Cole, Aces (high-sticking), 16:55.
Third Period -- None. Penalties – Cole, Aces, double-minor (roughing), 9:44; Leduc, Stockton, double-minor (slashing, roughing), 9:44; Syvret, Aces, minor-major (roughing-fighting), 11:18; Shattock, Stockton, major-major (boarding, fighting), 11:18; Currier, Aces (tripping), 13:23; Sivak, Stockton (tripping), 18:14; Sutter, Stockton, minor-misconduct (slashing), 18:45; Seabrook, Stockton, minor-misconduct (slashing), 18:51.
Shots on goal – Stockton 12-10-6—28. Aces 16-14-7—37.
Power-play Opportunities – Stockton 1 of 2. Aces 1 of 6.
Goalies – Stockton, Owen, 3-6-0 (37 shots-34 saves). Aces, Lundstrom, 5-6-0 (28-27).
A – 3,636 (6,399). T – 2:29.
Referee – Brett Sheva. Linesmen – Travis Jackson, Chad Colliander.