In becoming the last hockey club in the 28-team ECHL to play an overtime game this season, the streaking Alaska Aces fittingly used a bounty of last-minute magic to prosper Thursday night.
Brad Cole, a quintessential stay-at-home defenseman, jumped into the rush and scored with 42 seconds left in overtime to deliver the Aces a 4-3 road victory over the Stockton Thunder that drove their winning streak to six games.
That Cole was in position to make his first goal as an Ace a dagger came courtesy of rookie sniper Olivier Archambault, whose extra-attacker goal in the last minute of regulation prompted extra time.
And after surrendering a second-period lead and falling behind 2-1, the Aces used rookie winger Greg Wolfe's goal in the last minute of that period to forge a 2-2 tie.
All of that combined to give the Aces the last laugh in the opener of a three-game series at Stockton Arena, where they hit the quarter-pole of the ECHL's 72-game season at 9-9-0 after starting 2-8-0.
Cole, a veteran blueliner and first-year Ace who has never scored more than five goals in a pro season, furnished his first goal in 16 games with Alaska.
Archambault, though, is a likely suspect to produce points. The league's Rookie of the Month for November rifled home his team-leading 11th goal with 45.8 seconds left in regulation and rookie goaltender Niklas Lundstrom (18 saves) on the bench in favor of a sixth attacker. Archambault in the last month has not gone consecutive games without a goal.
The Aces also got one goal and one assist from veteran winger Brendan Connolly, three helpers from center Chris Francis and two-point nights from both Cole and Wolfe.
Alaska outshot Stockton, 41-21, including 20-5 in the third period and overtime, and finally cracked Thunder goalie Kent Simpson (37 saves) to improve to 5-1-0 against the Thunder this season.
The Aces' overtime win was their first in almost exactly two years. They had lost 11 straight overtime decisions in the regular season and playoffs since defenseman Kane Lafranchise wrapped up a 4-3 overtime win at Ontario on Dec. 1, 2012.
Alaska has won seven of its last eight games and hit .500 for the first time this season, a reward coach Rob Murray coveted on a night when his team carried the play in the opener of a six-game, two-week road trip.
"I would have felt pretty poorly after the game if we came out with a 3-2 loss,'' Murray said by phone.
The one thing the Aces lacked was the one thing that has plagued them lately -- power-play proficiency. They came up empty on six chances and have gone 0 for 12 in the last two games, 1 for 16 in the last three and 2 for 23 in the last four.
After Jack MacLellan furnished the Thunder (8-11-1) a 3-2 lead with a goal off an odd-man rush early in the third period, the Aces were afforded three consecutive power plays. That included a two-man advantage that lasted 91 seconds.
"The 5 on 3, we did everything but score,'' Murray said. "Simpson made some unbelievable saves. But 5 on 4, we're winning despite our power play.''
The game started out with a fight as predictable as death and sunrise -- Aces winger Justin Johnson and Thunder captain Garet Hunt dropped their gloves and shed their helmets off the opening face-off. That throw-down was not a shocker, considering Hunt has led the ECHL three times in major penalties and twice in penalty minutes and Johnson has forged his reputation as a fighter, which last season elevated him to the NHL. As an Ace five years ago, Johnson led the ECHL in major penalties and penalty minutes.
Connolly deflected a Francis shot deep into the first period to stake the Aces to a 1-0 lead, but that vanished early in the second period. J.T. Barnett and Ryan Constant scored two minutes apart to earn Stockton a 2-1 lead that Wolfe wiped out with his goal off a Francis feed in the final minute of the period.
Archambault's game-tying goal came shortly after Murray used his timeout and brought Lundstrom to the bench in favor of an extra attacker before a face-off in the Thunder zone.
Shuffling the deck
Connolly stretched his point streak to seven games and owns 3-9—12 totals in that span.
Francis has furnished the Aces 3-6—9 totals in the last six games.
Connolly, Wolfe and forward Ryan Walters, whose assist on Archambault's goal was his first point in three games with the club, each fired a game-high seven shots on goal.
Winger Bryan Cameron, who assisted on Connolly's goal, has produced 1-3—4 totals in three games since he returned from an upper-body injury that shelved him for nine games.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockey-blog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
Aces 1 1 1 1 -- 4
Stockton 0 2 1 0 -- 3
First Period – 1, Aces, Connolly 4 (Francis, Cameron), 15:09. Penalties – Hunt, Stockton, minor-major (unsportsmanlike conduct, removing helmet-fighting), :01; Johnson, Aces, minor-major (unsportsmanlike conduct, removing helmet-fighting), :01; Shattock, Stockton (elbowing), :44.
Second Period – 2, Stockton, Barnett 2 (Levi, Mallet), 2:29; 3, Stockton, Constant 2 (Shattock, Sivak), 4:28; 4, Aces, Wolfe 6 (Francis, Cole), 19:40. Penalties – Johnson, Aces (high-sticking), 5:32; Constant, Stockton (interference), 17:07.
Third Period – 5, Stockton, MacLellan 5, 1:42; 6, Aces, Archambault 11 (Francis, Walters), 19:14 (ea). Penalties – Henry, Stockton (tripping), 4:01; MacLellan, Stockton (tripping), 6:28; Constant, Stockton (high-sticking), 6:57; Molle, Aces (roughing), 9:58; Archambault, Aces (tripping), 13:01; Levi, Stockton (tripping), 13:33.
Overtime – 7, Aces, Cole 1 (Connolly, Wolfe), 4:18. Penalties -- None.
Shots on goal – Aces 8-13-17-3—41. Stockton 8-8-4-1—21.
Power-play Opportunities – Aces 0 of 6. Stockton 0 of 3.
Goalies – Aces, Lundstrom, 8-7-0 (21 shots-18 saves). Stockton, Simpson, 2-3-0 (41-37).
A – 2,402 (9,737). T – 2:32.
Referee – Mike McBain. Linesmen – Brett Martin, Brandon Gawryletz.