Sports

Rough road: Aces lose 3rd straight, Murray ponders moves

Raphael Bussieres snapped his 12-game goal drought and Greg Wolfe played with his usual hunger -- and that about covers it for Alaska Aces highlights in their 5-1 ECHL loss Wednesday at Colorado.

Otherwise, it was all Eagles.

On a night when Alaska endured a familiar first-period deficit and rookie goaltender Niklas Lundstrom got the hook for the second straight start, the Aces suffered their third straight defeat and left Budweiser Events Center in Loveland again lugging a sub-.500 record (15-16-2).

The four-goal spread matched Alaska's most lopsided loss of the hockey season – Ontario and Idaho each dropped similar anvils on the Aces.

And the result left Alaska coach Rob Murray pondering moves aimed at bolstering a club that sits sixth in the seven-team Pacific Division and has lapsed back into doldrums after a seven-game point streak (5-0-2).

Murray likely will have to seek help from free agents or North Americans looking to return home from European leagues. That's because many of his most appealing commodities are under contract to higher leagues and those deals bar him from trading them. Wolfe and center Chris Francis, Alaska's No. 3 and 4 scorers, are under ECHL contracts, but Murray said any moves he makes won't involve them or veteran first-line winger Brendan Connolly.

"It's nothing I can't say the fan base isn't wondering about – 'Why haven't there been moves?' '' Murray said by cellphone. "It's hard. I'll make some calls and (other teams) are going to ask for Chris Francis and Greg Wolfe.

ADVERTISEMENT

"That makes no sense (for the Aces). I'll have to look for guys who are a little hungrier.''

Murray said Francis has elevated his game recently. Wednesday, he liked the play of Bussieres and Wolfe, who assisted on Bussieres' goal.

"They played like they cared,'' Murray said.

Otherwise, he said, he's unimpressed with his team's lack of passion and expects more in Friday's rematch with Colorado (23-13-0), which has won five straight.

"It'll be a test whether the character shows up Friday night,'' Murray said.

The Aces for the first time this season played without the league-maximum 16 skaters. Murray dressed 10 forwards and five defensemen.

Defenseman Colten Hayes missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. The club's leading scorer, winger Olivier Archambault, and leading scorer from the blue line, Brad Richard, are both on promotion to the American Hockey League. And forwards Justin Johnson and Ryan Tesink are home recovering from injuries.

With St. Louis Blues goaltender development coach Ty Conklin, the former NHLer from Anchorage, in attendance, Murray pulled Lundstrom midway through the second period after Lundstrom surrendered five goals on 24 shots. The rookie from Sweden last Friday got the second-period hook in a 4-3 loss at Idaho after giving up four goals on 17 shots.

The Aces' two most experienced defensemen, Brad Cole and Corey Syvret, also absorbed a difficult night – both went minus-3.

The road has proved ruinous to the Aces – they are 5-10-0 in hostile rinks and 1-3-0 on this six-game trip that wraps Saturday night at Colorado.

On the home side, winger Kyle Kraemer came off the injured list for his season debut and promptly delivered two goals, an assist, five shots on goal and a plus-3 rating. Trent Daavettila's line – the veteran centered Kraemer and Taylor Vause – tortured the Aces for four goals and nine points. Daaettila and Vause each furnished one goal and two helpers.

Kraemer's multiple-goal game was not an aberration – he's got 16 of them in four-plus ECHL regular seasons and last season for Ontario torched Las Vegas for five goals, one shy of the league's single-game record.

After Kraemer opened the scoring 12 minutes into the game, Bussieres countered four minutes later to draw the Aces even. But Lundstrom surrendered a soft goal to Vause, who beat him to the short side, in the final minute of the first period, and Kraemer struck just 17 seconds into the second period for a 3-1 Colorado lead.

Colorado defenseman Colin Joe scored four minutes later and Daavettila's power-play goal later in the period chased Lundstrom in favor of Aaron Crandall.

Shuffling the deck

Crandall stopped all 10 shots he faced. When he replaced Lundstrom in Idaho last week, he stopped all 16 shots he faced.

The Aces went 0 for 4 on the power play and are 2 for 26 in the last five games.

Francis fired a game-high seven shots on goal.

ADVERTISEMENT

Colorado goalie Troy Redmann stopped 30 shots, few of which were threatening.

Eagles winger Jordan Kwas, the former UAA skater, fired two shots on goal and earned an even rating.

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 0 0 1

Colorado 2 3 0 5

First Period – 1, Colorado, Kraemer 1 (Daavettila, Knowlton), 12:19; 2, Aces, Bussieres 2 (Wolfe, Baldwin), 16:27; 3, Colorado, Vause 10 (Kraemer, Kulak), 19:19. Penalties – Pavlovs, Colorado (delay of game-puck over glass), 7:59; Baldwin, Aces (interference), 10:13.

Second Period – 4, Colorado, Kraemer 2 (Vause, Daavettila), :17; 5, Colorado, Joe 3 (Nixon, Moon), 4:17; 6, Colorado, Daavettila 5 (Vause, Kulak), 12:53 (pp). Penalties – Bowman, Colorado (roughing), 7:43; Sproule, Aces (roughing), 7:43; Connolly, Aces, double-minor (high-sticking), 12:19.

Third Period -- None. Penalties – Currier, Aces (slashing), 5:27; Bowman, Colorado, minor-major (roughing, fighting), 5:52; Connolly, Aces, major (fighting), 5:52; Zahn, Colorado (cross-checking), 7:08.

ADVERTISEMENT

Shots on goal – Aces 7-13-11—31. Colorado 13-13-8—34.

Power-play Opportunities – Aces 0 of 4. Colorado 1 of 4.

Goalies – Aces, Lundstrom, 13-12-1 (24 shots-19 saves); Crandall, enter 12:53 2nd period (10-10). Colorado, Redmann, 2-0-0 (31-30).

A – 5,289 (5,289). T – 2:18.

Referee – Frederic Leblanc. Linesmen – Butch Mousseaux, Erik Contino.

Doyle Woody

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

ADVERTISEMENT